Mirror of the Erased

Foreword

If you stumbled upon here amidst important work, please come back later.

Having woken up completely drained, sore and strained, the side-effects of too much physical activity after a long time, I realized that its almost two and half hours past the rise early - sleep early schedule I've been practicing for the past month - so much to stabilize the social animal's system. After groaning a 'Oh ****!', my mind promptly dived into re-scheduling the day's activities. Postponing shaving and choosing to take bath in cold water helped me get ready earlier than usual and in no time I was driving back home with breakfast and newspaper for Dad. Thanks to the closing of a signal in GST road, the due-to-metro-rail traffic is less intense these days and I was waiting for the lift (at work) five minutes later. Compared to the past two months, today was expected to be a 'less issues' (I did not say no issues) which meant that my mind was devoid of preoccupied problem solving and the security didn't have to remind me to sign in the laptop register, but, as the day progressed, my mind did register to forget tomorrow. So passed by, one more day where I tried to be sincere (apparently 'good' is way far) at something I remotely imagined I would even be doing by this time in my life. Just like that I was unlocking the front door (back at home). Followed, the routine of freshening up, dinner with F.R.I.E.N.D.S, online for sometime and settling down for a chat with Dad by his bed.

Chats with my dad by his bed almost often turns out to be the most interesting part of my day. We discuss from movies to technology, past to the future, dead to the to-be-born and more. Sometimes we end up laughing really hard, sometimes it would result in me storming out after a furious argument, or sometimes one trying to cheer up the other. In short, its a jugalbandhi of sorts and without dedicating an entire post to it, I'd not be able to do justice. However, today, we dug deep into our past, deep enough that we reached the 1970s about how my Dad's career started. I don't even remember how it lead there, but it all started when we talked about how my career started amidst some of the most dreadful days of our lives - Madurai.

At the close of an hour long talk, I wanted to write (an entire post) today, unlike other days where I start, write two lines and close (the browser). And to make sure I went through with it, I set Jet Audio to play Varanam Ayiram in a loop. How amazingly true is the fact that our minds are so pictorial and musical, one complementing the other. The moment I listen to 'Nenjukkul Peidhidum' I can picture myself sitting in front of my PC in the hall of our flat in Madurai, on a Sunday afternoon, chatting or blogging, Dad lying down in his bed (next to the PC), both of us with no clue of what we are going to do for the rest of the day. Well, that just describes a selected few Sundays, because all the other weekends (except a couple at the start and many towards the end), I spent the rest at work or should I say second college.

Madurai (September 26th 2008 - April 29th 2009) was just a flash in my interesting life filled with irregular connectible events. A positive attitude of expectation is half way to satisfaction. In Madurai, the corollary of that statement worked pretty well for me. Agrini, the home to most (of the little amount of) software engineers and families, was probably the best thing that happened to us in that city. The first time I saw that place in July 2009, I decided that it was going to be my home (irrespective of the duration of stay) in Madurai. Just like India in Sunday's match with England, I got off to a quiet but steady start - pretty decent workplace, my CSE background (or tag), my determined will to get along (no matter where), an AWESOME, (almost) like-minded set of colleagues and the feel-at-home setup including my Dad, his cooking, filter coffee every morning, hot lemon rasam when I wanted it, unlimited internet (though it was from sucking BSNL) and a lovely set of friends (back home) who often called to check on me. Just when I started to sink into that place-for-the-next-few-years feeling, the pressure started to build.

After 17 continuous days of 7 AM to 1 AM schedules, somehow, I (we) managed to cross the first bunch of hurdles and cruised into the next phase, for which all of us were better equipped and prepared mentally. All that preparation to get through that one more month for life to be set milestone was in vain when I (we) realized that the three months of grooming was going to be wasted grooming down doubly during that fourth month. I have talked about that many times here and am not getting into it again.

So, I'm summing up those seven months as a set of picture moment memories below:

1) September 27th 2008 (around 10 PM) - Dad hung up on his friend promising him (after lots of persuading) that he'd be there for the elections (next day) at The Kerala Club, Coimbatore. I never imagined that I'd be visiting CBE two days after I said Good-Bye. It was like a 'Always my home' kind of a thing.

2) October 21st 2008 (late evening) - Celebrated a colleague's birthday that fell on the next day. The day I realized that God was not all that cruel. He did know what and whom I liked to have around me.

3) October 31st 2008 - First salary. I was all teeth. :D My first withdrawal was to buy a shirt for Dad.

4) November 10th 2008 - First accident in my bike. Crazy old man freaks out in the middle of the NH road. My nose hit the rear view mirror with full force and bulged to the size of a capsicum. I got so much attention at work that day. :P

5) November 18th 2008 (around 9 PM) - End of the first day of C++ lab evaluation. I cracked down and cried like a little child after the pressure filled day (ever) of not talking to a SINGLE HUMAN SOUL from 9 AM to 8 PM. No food (except for a few cups of coffee). Mobile phone switched off. 100 other famished, hopeless soul-sucked beings around me. I did not feel bad about the day that had passed by (I had done my best). I was dreading the next day. The next evening, I prayed sincerely that I (we) should never ever come across two days like that forever.

6) December 6th 2008 - Played cricket at the TCE campus grounds. I had registered in the team for the New Year Cup. The batch mates who selected the team looked at each other and shook their heads in disapproval as soon as I bowled my first ball (No! The batsman did not score a run. Wrong answer!). I don't think they knew I noticed their non-verbal communication. :P I was laughing loudly inside thinking that these guys actually took me serious when I said I wanted to play. :P

7) December 25th 2008 - A Christmas I celebrated long after my Lisieux days. It was by far the happiest day for me in Madurai and the fact that I spent a gloomy 25th December 2009 is a testimonial.

8) December 29th 2008 - The day I gave up on corporates. How will you feel when someone in-charge announced that the training program you were slogging your a**es off, was actually started as a social service for the rural youth - to send them into the market (not for recruitment); and with a smile says "Have a ball on New year's eve. Don't regret later!" We did have amazing fun that New years. Only curse noises filled the room.

9) January 17th 2009 - My roommate was driving and I was the pillion rider (for a change). A phone call I was so happy to answer, but wanted to kill myself when I hung up changed my life forever.

10) February 2nd 2009 - I was back from Cbe all geared up for the (for the sake) extended training. But, the soul-sucking continued. I opened the link to submit my resignation, but the last traces of common sense forced me to shut my PC down and rush home asap (after calling sick).

11) February 19th 2009 - Got my first build (after God knows how much of effort) running successfully and tested it. I went home whole-heartedly.

12) March 5th 2009 - Gave a demo to the domain lead (periya thala) and he appreciated my efforts to have developed what I had in such a short time. Beaming with pride, I booked tickets to Cbe for the weekend.

13) March 18th 2009 - I was given a firing by my manager because I inquired about a "merit-list" they had mentioned. I was told (as a general statement), "You may be a top performer. But, I get to decide who would be working here". I sent out 65 job application mails in the next two days.

14) March 21st 2009 - Successfully headed and conducted a Medical Camp in a village near Madurai. The only day spent with purpose during my eight month stay.

15) March 31st 2009 - I went home dejected. Nine of us had applied for a development job in B'lore. Seven of us got a call for an interview the next day and no prizes for guessing, I did not. I was so depressed that my Dad forced me to go out and buy new speaker systems for my PC. :)

16) April 1st 2009 - The company that did not consider my application for the development job called me and the other guy for a testing position. We were happy but were dejected to learn that none of the seven who attended the interview that day nailed it. Third round exit. Fifth round exit etc. Nerves!

17) April 2nd 2009 (B'lore) - Seven of us attended the set of written tests and interviews. Two of us nailed it and not sure you got it right, I did! :) I was asked to join on 14th April.

18) April 3rd, 4th 2009 (Chennai) - Different company. One more written test and two rounds of interview. I did well. I went back to Madurai hoping I get it in Chennai, awaiting the results that were supposed to come by 7th .

19) 7th April 2009 (Madurai) - I resigned anyways. Even if I did not get the job in Chennai, I was going to join in B'lore. Made the decision. A confusing decision, which I realized after few months to be right. Finally, I sent the good-bye mail I was longing to send.

20) 9th April 2009 (Morning) - Results of the company in Chennai were delayed. I booked my tickets to B'lore for the 12th. It was a long weekend from the next day and if the results did not come by evening, I decided to join in B'lore.

21) 9th April 2009 (Around 7 PM) - Got a call from Chennai. I had gotten through. That phone call decided and has maneuvered my professional life and parts of my personal life since then.

22) 25th April 2009 (9 PM) - Boarded the bus to Chennai. Waved goodbye to a lot of memories, bitterness, short-lived happiness and hell a lot of learnings (technical and way more).

PS:

1) Usually I reread my posts a million times before posting. Today, I'm just posting it. So don't mind typos and the length. I'm sure you were bored by the end of it, but I thoroughly enjoyed reliving those seven months.

2) Jet Audio has looped the Varanam Ayiram tracks have around 10 times by now. So, the song selection did work for me, as always. :)

3) Regarding that cricket cup, I was in the squad though and I fielded for an over in one of the matches. We won the cup and I have a trophy at home. No, I have not listed this in the extra curricular achievements section of my resume. :)

For old times

Yesterday

It wasn't a normal day at work. Laughter echoed out of the number of empty cubicles. Half of them who had come to work seemed overjoyed and work couldn't have been more banal even to the most enthusiastic lot. It was a pretty different day for me too, because, we had ordered lunch from Subway. As we were sitting in the cafeteria and munching the delicious Corn & Peas sandwich, we heard the sound. It was loud, rhythmic, went on for sometime and gradually muted down. The until completely unaware mind, that was only thinking about packet processing, Ethernet frames, housing loan interest rates, RBI directed amendments and confirmation of my return ticket from CBE realized something. The last time I celebrated Diwali was in 2001.

Typical Diwali Month

I was brought up in a house where every festival from a low profile Aadi Friday to a high profile Diwali mattered a lot. Every single occasion was celebrated the typical, traditional way. So, the hype and hoopla around Diwali needs no mention. Almost as soon as the excitement of Navaratri (and all the sundal) started to fade, the Diwali rush would begin. Almost three weeks prior to Diwali, the neighbors would have started complaining about hearing gun shots from our house. Srinath and me would have started our Diwali celebration with cape guns, the first of our Diwali purchases. This would go on till the week before Diwali or until probably my mom gains resistance to my pleas of, "Amma, just one more gun. I'll not break it this time".

As for the new dress, I don't remember caring to ask for one. My mom knew our tastes really well and all I knew was that on the morning of Diwali, I'd have a new dress to wear. So, the important factor - Crackers. Swathi and myself would sit together to put up a list of crackers. Dad was not a big fan and Mom would seldom suggest more than few of her colorful favorites. She loved the beauty of the colorful ones though. Once the crackers reached home, we'd sit and assort them in two cartons, one for Swathi and the other for me. No crossing territories. We were sure that, upstairs, with the same kind of a division Srinath would be coming up with one such box as well.

The next excitement would be the TV programmes. Unlike today's torrent world, the only way to catch our favorite movies, after in the theatre, would be for festivals like Diwali/Pongal when each television channel would compete with each other for movie and time slots. This set up our itinerary on Diwali day (temple going, relative visiting etc). So, with a check on crackers, new dress and TV schedules, what next?

Diwali Eve - School

Most of the Diwali eves, except if Diwali fell on a Sunday/Monday, it would be a working day. Studying in Lisieux was the best thing that happened to me till date. When Fr. Xavier took charge as principal, he started celebrating every festival (religion bar) with grandeur. So, Diwali eve meant lots of bunking classes, the previous day, for choir practice. A pretty decent function with usual readings from all sacred texts (Bhagavad Gita, Quran and The Bible), addressing and the choir singing the good old 'Jothi Dho' bhajan. Eventually, we ourselves had gotten so bored of singing the same song, so we changed the trend and sung 'Krishna Nee Begane' (Colonial Cousins) and 'Eshwar Allah' (Earth) once.

After the morning assembly celebrations, we'd retire to our classrooms where they'd distribute a packet of mixture and a packet with a sweet. The best artists in the class would have decorated the board with their depiction of Diwali - an excuse that we would use later, so that, no teacher touched the board, except for an occasional mean staff who would heartlessly erase it and resume classes. When its almost 2:30 PM, the crackers buzz would start when the watchmen (Rangasamy anna and Balu anna) would be setting up the grand 10,000 LAR in the basketball court. As soon as the bursting starts, I'm sure each and everyone around me felt that same pumping excitement kick off. I'd cycle home with extra speed where lovely aroma of sweets/savories would be awaiting me at the gates, with a grand welcome.

Diwali Eve - @ Home

As I entered the house, I'd already be guessing around I-don't-know how many items. Almost all the sweets would be in their finishing stages and the kitchen would be the heaven for people who love food. Typical sweets would be chocolate/cashew/badam cake and on the salty side, pokada/murukku/muthuswaram etc. The routine son-touching-the-sweets and mom-slapping-the-hand telling him to wash his hands would follow. The biggest wonder to me would be how could she have possibly pulled off all this in the matter of few hours. I'd soon get ready and raid the upstairs kitchen to taste Periyammai's snacks as well. After all the tasting and helping to pack sweets that would have to go out that evening, we would bring out our cartons as darkness falls on Alagesan Road, Coimbatore.

Lighting up the candles, seeing that first spark of the first sparkler (kambithiri) only to see it burn till the end and that confusion of where to start marks the beginning of the crackers session. Once it started, there would be no looking back. We'd burst through the limit for the night and keep the rest for the morning - small counts of Flowerpots, Changu Chakram, Red Forts, Rockets and a 1000 LAR. Compared to the families opposite house, ours would be a very minimal share and would be over in no time.

Once we are done, we'd go and lock the houses tight and assemble in the balcony to witness the moment of the Diwali Eve. The big shot of the locality would lay down sacks and sacks of 'Ola Pattasu' that he imports from Trissur every year. It would run through most of our street, for kilometers long. Traffic through the streets would come to a halt for sometime and so much hoopla would surround the start of the fireworks. Trust me, it used to be a such a treat to watch. Man! He had taste. They used to light it up from both ends. The crackers would have burnt out in some time, unlike the buzzing sound in our ears that would take sometime to cease. And no matter, how much caution we'd taken, a ventilator pane or the balcony tiles or the TV or something would have been damaged. It happened for years together, but I don't think anyone complained because we knew we enjoyed it more than he did.

And the Diwali eve is not over yet. Some of the years our aunt (Dad's sister) in Palakkad would surprise us by coming over. The usual brother's excitement of seeing his sister would bubble up which means we all get to go for a ride with Dad, in and around Coimbatore and we would halt to grab whatever crackers is left in the last of the closing stores. By the time we reached home, we'd be exhausted and would hit the bed only to await the alarm at 3 AM.

The Diwali Day

Considering the enjoyment mentioned till now, one would guess that Diwali would be a fun-filled day, but the best part is definitely over. On Diwali, it used to be pretty much the same stuff. Oil bath, bursting of crackers, going to the Vinayagar Temple nearby, distributing sweets around the locality, Idlis for breakfast (upstairs or downstairs) and by around 10 AM we would have settled in front of the TV to spend the rest of the day there, except for a quick jumping out during the news break to exhaust the leftover crackers. Sometimes, we used to retain the stock for upcoming Kaarthigai. The evening would slowly come about and one more exciting Diwali would have come to a close, as the last of the movies for the day puts up credits. The only excitement left would be to wear the new dress to school one the first day after holidays.

Today

Here I sit, listening to the occasional tudat-padat-zurrr-ziyumm sounding outside my window. Dad has tried to keep the aroma living with the super hot molagootal that is getting ready in the kitchen. I know its Diwali. I got calls from those friends who knew why they should talk to me today. I have more than many awesome reasons to call this Diwali a good one, but that's just there. So, I took my time out to relive the amazing life we lived in Coimbatore. After all, going over the past helps you shape the future. Cheers!

 

WISHING ALL MY READERS A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS DIWALI.

MAY THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS MAKE YOUR LIVES BRIGHT.

Random Memories - Part I

Driest of Days

After a long time, I happened to listen to the tracks of Slumdog Millionaire today. I don't listen to those tracks often because they remind me of the driest of days - The days in Madurai. February-March 2009. Yuck! I wish I could just delete them from my life. Monday, Feb 23rd 2009, when the world woke up to the news of the double Oscars, I woke up too, at 4 AM to catch a glimpse of Rahman walking down the red carpet. Few of my colleagues (I should say co-trainees) dropped in as early as 6 AM to see if he made it. But, in vain. They left to work by 9 AM, when his turn hadn't come yet. I wasn't going to miss this to go to a place and copy, paste code from one workspace to another, all day.

"And the award goes to A.R.Rahman", was all I heard and I was running in and out of the hall, celebrating the joy, taking calls and making calls. And then came the performance and one more. My joy knew no bounds. And it lasted for about 15 minutes, after which it sunk in that I had to go to work. Dad wasn't home. My roommate who was back from Cbe that morning had left to work too. Alone was the word. I wanted to shout aloud, "God! Sling me away! Far from this place". The worst was, that day I was to be seated amongst employees, who pocketed a nice, fat pay-cheque and did not have to worry about being sent home soon enough. The rest were being shifted to another location and I was arranged a temp machine to work with. Two more days and I had to go to my college to attend the interview for the job of a lecturer, which went well, but a department merger ruined any chances of getting in. Even if I could, it was not until June/July.

Family issues were at a peaking rate. Almost everyday, an argument with dad leading to one of us yelling at the other and me storming out of the apartment to a colleague's place, so that I could be amongst people who really understood what it meant to be me. Signing out of yahoo hurriedly to avoid a fight with my sister or a friend. All of them were really supportive, but the mind needed a tad more than that. The problem was I din know what that was. Soon enough, calling a friend/classmate needed double thinking because even a birthday wish ended in discussion about recession and job hunt.

The hurried weekend trips to Coimbatore came as a big breather. The toughest of my uncles had begun to say, "Can't help it. Be patient!". It was good to meet friends who never said the usual stuff like "You'll find your way out", but laughed along for the dumb jokes of being "almost" unemployed. When I board the bus, the heart would sink again. During one of those trips, I lost my mobile, which definitely was one of my priced possessions. Like a madman, I drove my bike for around 20-30 kilometers looking for it, at 4:30 in the morning.

The worst part was when some of them started to leave. I remember looking at the screen of a friend greedily, as he filled in the resignation form. The many calls from people who wanted to help, but couldn't offer more than a startup company, some even without a fixed pay until they won a project. The two other offer letters I had (from campus interview) were just a set of printed papers now. The world had never seemed so secretive; Nil response for the 60 odd job related query mails sent out. Attaching a resume to a mail had become as much as a habit as not expecting a reply. And finally, the day came. Around 10 of us had applied for a development job at a company in Bangalore. When the first person got a mail to attend the interview the following day, the rest of awaited ours. At least for a few hours, I thought that my day had come. But, it hadn't. 2 of the 10 of us saw the rest of them off at the bus stand. All we could do was wish them luck. It wasn't their fault.

I went home dejected. Argument again. Yelling again. I did not have anywhere to storm out. The rest were on their way to Bangalore. I cried that night. Like a little child. Like a pressure cooker that seems like it is going to burst open, I opened my mind to the air in my room, well I should say, to the heat filled room. With reddened eyes I reached office the next day. All hopes shattered. The little enthusiasm left, flushed down the drain. And there it came. The same company had called the two of us for a testing vacancy. It was April 1st and I thought some idiot was playing a prank on us. That night on the way to Bangalore, we heard that we had another interview the day after that, in Chennai. In the end, I was unemployed on one Thursday and was considering the pros and cons of two offers, the next.

A couple of days later, it was my turn. I checked if I had missed out any fields before I clicked the Submit button of the resignation form. The promise was made. Three weeks later, I was on that side of the bus, where the people on the other side still hoped, "Our day is on its way". As I prayed for them, I also remembered to wish myself.

Happy Independence Day!

Lets promise to take care of ourselves.

Lets not spread trouble, if unable to spread happiness

Lets not punish others for small mistakes that we don't like to punished for.

Lets not honk at the vehicle in the front; some people still wait for the Green signal.

Lets not drink and drive; Lets give others the fair chance to live.

Lets shed uncalled for judgement.

Lets invest trust to profit out of it.

Lets forget false beliefs.

Lets be determined to go forward.

We are the nation; The nation will move forward with us.

Jai Ho! Jai Hind!

That day!

Far into the future,
When success is a crony,
The doleful past behind you;
A sanguine curve on your lips.
That day!

Every step in your way,
With courage, you overcame.
The bloody foot-prints left behind,
Only to look back with pride.
That day!

Every passer-by you pick up,
Discloses a tale or two.
The simulacrum makes you wonder;
All the tales you saved to share.
That day!

Long after the banal phase,
With many dreams destroyed.
The ones that matter - you rebuilt;
All traces of the pain long lost.
That day!

Far into the future,
When you travel back here,
Lessons for the ones you made.
Win the smile you were promised.
That day!

PS: All that shattered was once built from scratch. All it takes, is the will to look back and smile with pride.

Happy Birthday

It was just this normal Monday for the rest of this world. For me, it was my first day @ work, in a company that I once thought - too much to expect, you are not gonna get a job there. 29th September 2008, the day I was all dressed up in formals, wore across my torso the business bag my Dad gifted me, got onto my bike like I was a hero and rode up to the foot hills of Thiruparankundram, Madurai.

It was not an entirely new environment. I knew 3 of my to-be colleagues beforehand - One my classmate, two a guy I met during the interview and three a guy from college whom I knew as this counter strike genius. I had met him during a counter strike tournament where my team returned unsuccessful (of course in the first round - well, I was in the team and what more can u expect).

Three of my teammates, who were geniuses too (in the game), were talking to him - His team had a one way ticket to the finals. He was surprised by the fact that Sparrow's team had come out in the first round and they were talking to each other in a language understandable only by the cream of a crowd called GAMERS. I maintained this low profile of looking away during the entire GAMERS stand-around conference.

Throughout the meet, this guy seemed to ignore me. Well, I thought he knew that talking to me would neither be knowledgeable nor interesting (almost half of the college knew that - news spreads u know). However, I did not bother that he din give a damn because I knew only his name and the fact that he is a Counter Strike Gethu. I met him a few of times after that. One memorable time was during the my Accenture placement. When they were giving out offers, the HR remembered that two of the guys selected can sing well. Me & another guy Raghul sang a number each and I definitely sang well enough to be noticed. He was running around helping the people who got the offers (He was the placement co-ordinator for his department I guessed).

Coming back (to 29-09-2008), we were all seated in this so called "reception" (the company called that compound so). I was sitting along with this classmate and the interview guy. We were just discussing how its going to be, checking out all the trembling trainees walk in, one after the other. Soon, this chap walked in. He was dressed like a professor, with glasses and all, appreciably formal with the ropes of his back clinging on to his body. I did not get him immediately.

Slowly it settled in - the counter strike guy. I had totally forgotten that he had been selected too. He came in with one of his classmates (I never knew him from college, but he had a very familiar face). The two came in and sat next to my classmate. They got to talking and started cracking jokes. I joined the conversation and it was going on fine until I added a line and they laughed at it.

He stopped laughing all of a sudden turned to my classmate and said, "Who is this?"

Well, I first thought that it was about this interview guy who was also a part of the conversation. But, the finger was pointed at me.

My classmate said, "Sriraj! CSE. Amrita. You don't know him?".

"Ettimadai campus?", he reacted.

"Yeah. We've met before. During the counterstrike tournament?", I tried to ring a bell.

And I quoted many more instances including the singing during Accenture placement. But in vain. It was like in F.R.I.E.N.D.S where Rachel's sister Amy thinks Ross sold her a philaphel. :(

And thats when I got to know Mr. Aneesh Ramaswami. Sorry sorry sorry. Aneesh Sphinx Ramaswami, the counterstrike wizard, the well learned professor, Atlas puli (not tamarind, Tiger), an excellent blogger, passionate biker (esp the bullet), F1 Kirukkan (Mental) and my brother (the best of all tags huh?).

Happy B'day Bro! I never knew I could know someone so well so fast! The best in your life is yet to come. Your day is just on its way. There's no better time than your birthday to tell you how grateful I'm, to have met you. Thanks for this wonderful ride for the past one and half years. Have a great time!

Happy B'day! Have a Blast! :)

Loads of love, affection & bums

Chiju

14th May 2010

:) :) :)

Marina Beach, Chennai, June 2009

Escape

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 10; the tenth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

I was ignorant about the concept of the earth spinning around an axis. I was five years old. Anything that went circling used to get me to my nerves easily. For instance, the ceiling fan was my biggest nightmare if I woke up in the middle of the night. This supports the fact that I've never sat on any of the rides @ Exhibitions/Theme Parks or wherever. From the giant wheel to a simple Merry-Go-Around horse ride, everything had a phobia effect on me.

It was during those phobia days....

My mom, my sister, Murthy Uncle, Rajeev anna, Bhagyam Aunty and a few unknown relatives were standing around us. Rahul and me waved at them once, twice, thrice and every time we came near them, and moved away. We waved till our necks could twist and then turned away. BAM! They came into view again.

We were on a Merry-go-Around Swan Water ride for the age-group 3-5 years in SL World, Bombay (back then). I was proud to have overcome my fears and sat on this ride. I must confess that I sat on it only after I was assured that it goes around at a speed much less compared to how fast they push the Merry-go-Round @ School.

The ride went on for sometime with an occasional elevation of the compartment we were seated. I started looking into the water and it was such a treat. I was having a great time watching the patterns of ripples forming. Gradually, the ride came to a halt and the kids started getting down, one compartment at a time.

For a kid who had so many phobias, I was not the kind who was subtle. I had the mix of a criminal mastermind as well. So went my thoughts, "How nice it would be to step into the water? Chiju! This would be the best moment to do it". And I did it. When the turn came, Rahul did a good boy of holding the hand of the guy who was getting us out and stepped out. I casually put my leg on the other side and stepped into the water. Everything went fuzzy in the next few seconds.

What was I thinking? I'm gonna walk on water, or its not gonna be deep enough or I'm a child prodigy and have won Gold for swimming in the last Olympics. The truth is, I wasn't thinking at all. I just wanted to do it and went ahead.

There were shouts of surprise, fright and terror outside. As I started drowning I could hear all the voices that said "Chiju", "No", "Aiyaayo" etc. However, they became muffled sounds in a few seconds and I started struggling to come up. I'm sure some would have thought, "That's it!"

Then, the Hero (someone who worked there) jumped into the water. and got me out as if I was a tennis ball in a bucket of water. I hadn't passed out or anything. Though I did a lot of puking and had to go all the way home feeing sick. This is the story of My Escape! :P

The best part was when, one grandma came and asked me, "Indha pakkum kaala vekkarathukku, Andha pakkam vechutiya da kanna?" (You stepped on the water instead of stepping on the land by mistake right?) and I nodded as if I knew nothing! :)

PS:

1) Finally, Century! :) Dear Readers and Commentators - Thanks a lot. You people are the best! Keep Visiting. Keep Motivating. An I'll keep writing crap! :P

2) I wanted to write a Coimbatore Era - Part III for my 100th post. But, I had to escape. :P Sometime later.

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

Down the memory lane - I

I was driving a Unicorn by the Nehru Stadium. The last of the shops were shutting down, I was sure it was past 11PM. There was no haste, whatsoever. I let my thoughts play on their own and they were well in sync with the late night September Coimbatore weather - pleasant than ever. My mind breezed into the past couple of days. Well, I should say that is way better than rocketing into the future.

*Concentric Circles Revolving begins*

We have played Pictionary before. But, last night was so much more fun. Vijay, Vivek and his cousin on one team, and, Me, Vibushan and Vivek's sister the opponents, it was the best set of games we'd ever played. Vijay and Vivek were on their best entertaining spree with so many jokes. I had to force myself to sleep, unable to stop replaying the fun.

Today was nothing short. We had thrilling rounds of Counterstrike in the morning and afternoon. We got to chatting for a while and met Harini Maam at her place. Again, all of us laughed so much that I can't recall all the jokes; they were all in such quick succession. JP joined us late and we had our dinner at Alankar Grande. It all began over dinner, with this personality quiz that I asked Anandh. The quiz went like, I'd give them a word and they should tell what comes up to their mind and that relates to their priority in life. Coffee was one of the words and Anandh came up with "morning". Can you blame him??? Well, that's the specialty of out gang. Coffee actually mapped up to sex and the idea of Anandh, coffee, morning and sex was so hilarious that we were laughing so loudly and for a long time. There had to be an end to it and as per plan we headed to Race Course for a good night's walk.

*Concentric Circles Revolving begins*

I was driving along K.G.Theatre (now Big Cinemas), with Anandh behind. We were almost there. As my lips curved into a smile about the fun filled days, a Hunk zoomed past us and the guys on the bike were roaring with laughter. From the sounds, we could say it was JP and Vibushan, still laughing over Anandh's coffee joke. :P

Race course, our favorite spot for relaxed but chatterbox walks, was nothing less that night. Deepak joined us at Race Course and we completed the round slow by time and fast by realization. We clicked many photos of TR style, Sam Anderson style (again, food for Vibu and JP's laughter - they were on a roll that night) and so on. Past midnight, we left race course and headed straight to my place. We played cards for a while, and my system playin all our favorite tunes. After cards, Vivek and Vijay wanted to call it a day, while, Vibushan, JP, Deepak, Anandh and me settled in the portico for a long chat.

It was past 4AM. We had to sleep. We arranged mats and bedspreads in the hall and lay down to sleep. The small leftover talks were fading away. Talking to murmuring to whispering to silence and we were stay put. It was like that for a while and my mind again wandered to take in one of the biggest changes about to happen in my life. I had to shift to Madurai the next day. A big load of packing and shifting work awaited me in the morning. All this hanging out had come to an end. Four years of college had taught me to understand, mingle, and love. The last lesson, probably, the toughest of all, to separate had to be learnt. My heart sank deep and I knew I had to cry, in fact I was almost there. Suddenly, a roaring sound diverted my thoughts.

JP and Vibushan were still in form, laughing at Anandh for his coffee joke, adding a TR interview joke here and there. In fact the entire personality quiz of Anandh was so hilarious and I'm sure he knows that too. :) :)

Sriraj

Coimbatore

24th September 2008

Those were the best days of my life.

The Coimbatore Era - Part II

When I wrote part-one, I thought Chiju Speaks would have a series of them going on for sometime. But, it has taken so long for me to come up with this one. Let me take you all through a few more glimpses of my childhood in Coimbatore.

Lisieux

Lisieux Matriculation Higher Secondary School, a well known boys convent school, is where I started my education and it was a long journey till I completed my Higher Secondary education. Wholesale fun, childish fights to prove one's might, funny pranks, naughty jokes, non-competitive sports (well... i was no competition), little academics and full time enjoyment could do little justice to explain my life in Lisieux. Fr. Francis, who gave me admission even though I was not eligible to go to school for one more year, is my all time favorite. He left school when I was in first grade, but came back as a value education teacher in my higher secondary.

The best thing about Lisieux is that I've been able to meet every kind of person and gained lots of experience. I have friends from Lisieux, who are there with me even now (the bunch who were able to put up with me and my ways) and on the contrary, I know guys who would flinch and swear at the mention of my name.

The choir of Lisieux, the only reason why I was not thrown out of school, takes me back to the best of my memories. Being a boys school, there were no nightingales (pretty looking/sweet sounding), so we actually had to perform well to get the guys to clap for us. Well, that has happened, but most of the time, it used to be a crowd tickler fiasco. I've been there in the choir right from the time I entered sixth grade and have performed till two months before my 12th boards (neglecting the look my chemistry sir gave me when he saw me at the practice sessions). Daily prayer, Chirstmas carols, National Anthem (whenever), the many vande matrams for Independence day and Republic day, Krishna Ne Begane from colonial cousins, meditation songs, diwali special songs, Tamil Thai Vaazhthu for pongal and the list goes on and on. National Anthem needs a special mention here because we used to mess it up most of the time trying to keep it at 52 seconds. Once, the keyboard player came up with a Tom and Jerry tune for the start of the National Anthem and we, in our white full sleeved shirts with a bow and pitch black trousers, ended up looking like buffoons lost in the crowd of a circus.

The Lisieux ground takes me back to my old cricketing days. I used to carry my bat and stumps in my cycle and play for even the shortest duration possible, until the watchman calls to close the ground or my mom/sis come in search of me. Then, there is the basketball court where I have spent many evenings. I was not a great (rather good) player but I used to love playing. I used to play basketball and lose my cycle key (it would have fallen off from my pockets while playing). I'd conduct a thorough search and find the key or send word through one of my mates so that people from home could get me the spare key or a hammer (to break the lock).

Extra curricular week during mid October was the highlight of Lisieux. A whole list of events including Elocution, 20 questions, Essay writing, Mock press, Debate, Sketching/Drawing, Music, Dance, Fancy Dress and more would be conducted for all age groups. I have won medals in singing right from my third grade till my twelfth grade. Though singing and essay writing are the only things I could actually do properly, I'd have participated in almost every competition including sketching, just for the sake of bunking classes. Once I participated in a group dance event, in which only one of us in the group could actually dance well. As we completed the performance, the host announced in the mike, "Thanks for the group solo performance". There have been years where I used to walk home with 3-5 medals and a whole bunch of certificates and years where I just carried appreciation for my singing. But, that was not the point at all, it was so much fun to not actually care about any criticism u get especially from a bunch of guys who used to do nothing but sit and laugh at people, ignorant of who are the real losers!

The chapel in school was one of my favorite spots. I used to try and pray there everyday before going to classes. During the exam days, the chapel corridors used to become silent study spots for many. I still remember how once we were caught and inquired as to who pelted stones at the chapel doors just because we used to sit there for our lunch.

That's lots said and lots more to say.

To be continued..

Always listen to Chiju

"Polaam da (Lets leave man)", Arvind said. "Its getting late. We'll play tomorrow."

"Only one game", I insisted. "We were not able to play this evening and we'd not be able to play till monday."

"Its already dark. We won't be able to spot the ball", he argued.

"That's ok. Only one game na?", I wouldn't let go.

We were at Rajeesh's place, stopped by to drink water, on the way back from tuition. We did not have Hindi tuition on weekends. It was just another tuition my mom tried out with no other rationale other than getting me to like the subject a little. I was in fourth standard and Hindi, especially grammar was a pain in all the wrong places.

My idea of Hindi tuition meant fun with Rajeesh, Nithin and Arvind (he got 95% the last exam and suggested the idea, little did he know that the problem was me and not any teacher). Every evening Arvind used to walk to my place, I joined him there and the next stop was Rajeesh's house. I made sure that we reached his house at least half an hour early to celebrate Cricket Time! I never knew that they were actually going to learn Hindi.

After a long and unsuccessful attempt of convincing, I gave up. We came out of the house, and as we started to walk, I said, "Let's take the forest route da,".

"Are you mad? Its too dark", he was stern.

Yet another round of argument and finally I said, "Ok. You go this way. I'll come through the forest. We'll meet in the next lane", and started walking towards the other direction. He called behind me and warned me, but why would I listen?

By forest, I am talking about a big deserted piece of land connecting two lanes. It was left unattended, so was covered with big, dense bushes with only a narrow pathway through which we used to walk. At that age, doing such a thing meant heroism to me. I'd go home and say, "I walked via the forest today! How brave am I!"

I know what all of you are thinking (at least people who know about my one actual fear). But, nothing happened in the forest that day. I walked through it as usual and reached the next lane. I was sure Arvind was walking in the perpendicular lane and would reach the meeting point in no time for mine was the longer route.

My aim was to reach there sooner. The reasons being, one, I wanted to reach before him and two, the street lamps were all out in that lane. It was pitch dark. Now, I was a hero, but can't take on darkness because I'm tired from the forest adventure. I wanted to run, but wasn't sure. I was bad at running too (I was not fat back then; just a bad runner).

I started to panic and decided to run. Immediately I thought I saw a couple of small, glowing balls in the air, but I did not want to stop or check, I kept running. Suddenly, I heard a breathing noise (hmph hmph hmph.. in CAPITALS) behind me. As I was running, I turned to see a fully grown Doberman chasing me. Its wrath gave me the assurance that its going to taste my leg that evening. I would definitely say that of all the running in my life, that day was my personal best.

I did meet Arvind, but the scene was a little different. He was running behind me yelling, "Chiju Chiju Chiju. Don't run", and me running even harder as if he was the dog. I did not stop until I reached my house. I was panting so badly that it took more than an hour for me to explain it to my sister and mom. Arvind had to stay there until I completed it, just to check if I was bit by the dog or not.

That idiot went home late anyway that day; he might as well played a game of cricket. I'd have not thought about walking through the forest. Of course, I never stepped in there from then. Hence the proof.

PS: Its Arvind's birthday today (06/08) and I wrote him a testi in orkut, before which I read the one he had written about me, for my last birthday. He has mentioned it there and this funny scene came to my mind.
Happy Birthday again da!

The Coimbatore Era - Part I

Coimbatore (Cbe), the place I was born, brought up, where I built a small empire of my own and ruled it and will keep ruling it forever. When I talk about Cbe, first thing that comes to my mind is Saibaba Colony (famously known as "Colony" there). Except for a cursed 12 months, I've lived there completely.

Vinayagar Temple (a good start always)
This one is situated round the corner of my house (the first house for me in Cbe). This place used to be a daily visit place, because I (rather my family) cross His hide-out wherever we used to go. For my first B'day (they call it "andinaar") I was taken to this temple for the pooja formalities. Since then, He is my Best Friend. A couple of years back, I had a small fight with Him and let's say I've not visited there since. Way too many memories left behind.

Annapoorna
Anybody associated with Cbe would know the speciality of this place. Available in every area, Annapoorna Coffee is the best of all the coffees i've had outside home. At least 75% of my diet, I owe it to this place. Colony Annapoorna has fed me like any mom would feed her children. I don't think the waiters there (excpept for 2) know me by name, but for sure they know me.

N.S.R Road

This is the Diagon Alley/Mount Road/Brigade Road or whatever of Saibaba Colony. It connects at least 3-4 major areas in the city. We owned a Sunny (bicycle with a motor attached to it). I'm a proud owner of that vehicle just because it has been able withstand me until 4 years back. Lets just say that our Sunny has its tyre marks imprinted on each and every pixel of N.S.R road. For grocery shopping, music CDs/Cassettes, video stores, tailor, typewriting classes, cycle repair/puncuture shops, stationery, bakers/confectioners, gift shop, college bus stop and the list goes on, the only solution was N.S.R road.

A.R.C Pani Poori stall
If Annapoorna was 75%, a major portion of the rest was contributed by A.R.C Pani Poori stall. The bhel puri (south indian style), Cauliflower (similar to Gobi Manchurian) and Paneer soda used to be my routine here. Long time since I've gone there also. Have to give a visit sometime. Sasi anna and Raj anna would definitely miss one of their favourite and well paying customer.

Padma Miss Tuition Class

I took Hindi tuitions with her. In simple words, she ROCKS! I never called her maam. Somehow, the first time I met her I called her Aunty (the other students always wondered why) and I stick to it till date. Unable to bear my trouble at home (for studies) I've been tested with a good lot of tuition teachers from time-to-time. The only successful person (or sane person after trying to control me) was Padma Miss. If she had not fallen sick during my public exams (10th), I'd have bagged the school first (in Hindi). I had to settle for the second highest score. I missed it by 4 marks. One full year, I took lessons with her and she is one of the most respectable teachers in my life.

Kerala Club

This is another awesome place. My dad is a member there. He used to take us (cousins, my sister and me) at times during vacation. We used to spend entire evenings watching people play Tennis, Badminton (coaching classes). The coaches used to lend us a couple of used tennis-balls in the end and we played in the lawn. My cousin Srinath and me used to wait for the bar to open. The bar looked like the ones that come in movies and all, with elevated, rotating chairs in front of the bar-tender counter, where one can sit and enjoy his drink. We used to order Thums-Up and imitate movie dialogues and scenes, say two detectives meeting at a bar and plotting to catch Veerappan and stuff. As kids, it used to be so much fun. I've been there with my college friends (Vivek, Vibu and JP) and as far as I know, they love the food there. Chilli Gobi, Paneer Tikka and Special Parotta are their favourites I guess.

To be continued..

PS: This is the 50th post Chiju has spoken (A blog that was supposed to be shut down has 50 posts now, which is something). Got to thank a few people whether or not I write sense.

1) Vibushan, first of all, to have introduced the word Blog to me.
2) Vivek, who used to encourage me whenever my blog slept and made me write come back posts. Though he is not a fan (which I recently learnt from him), he has even given me a blog award.
3) Aneesh, who never hesitated to tell me the truth when he felt what I've written is crap.
4) VJ, who comments everytime whether or not she understands it.
5) All my silent readers who read and give me offline comments (includes Bhuvana, Karthikeyan from school, Robin, my cousin Srinath, Sheetal, Ananth, Swetha, and Hari from Amrita).
6) Divya, who spent a lot of dedicated hours and gave my blog the appearance it carries now.
7) All the bloggers, whose writing inspired me a lot. Check out the Good Reads section in my blog.
8) Any well-wisher I missed out.