Trials and Tribulations by Fire

Got a few minutes to chill out. So thought would write a blog on the travails of driving (riding) in the water-infested roads of Chennai. Chennai, the hot tropical metro where there are no winters. There are only summers, which are described as hot, hotter and hottest. LOL. The cyclone that has showered its love on the city was supposed to have moved on to AP. But my guess is that the rains (much needed) are here to stay, atleast for a short while. Rain or no rain, a person like me has to face the trecherous roads and reach office on time. Riding a bike in Chennai is like trying to play a guessing game every second. You need to remember each and every pothole on the road and try not to fall into any of the miniature manholes. Today, I stepped into the Adyar river when I came out of my bulding. The strong currents threatened to submerge my bike. I braved the waters and turned towards Kotturpuram. Then the ordeal started. I heard myself saying, Water water everywhere.... Reached office a...

We decided to woo a gastronomic delight called as Paav Bhaaji to our tummies, that lazy Saturday, 14th of October 2006, a day to remember, when two friends met and zoomed on the black machine to the 3rd Big friend's house. The Big friend had invited her friends to her "self-prepared lunch." It turned out that PP, one of the friends and the driver Nk were the ones who did it all. Well, in all honesty (Lest I get a virtual kick from Big!) I would tell you that Nk did nothing to the creation of the yummy Paav Bhaaji. Big got all the ingredients and PP barged into the small kitchen. Well, the kitchen is not small, but there are 2 cupboards that take up space. There is a small service veranda (where the Bai would show her talent) adjacent to the kitchen. Lets get onto the pictorial story of the day, when we met and made Paav Bhaaji, Mumbaiyya Ishtyle. This picture shows the cold haandi ready to be used for cooking. Lets go on to the chefs. They are ready and excited to start t...

October7th, 2006, went to Shirdi. A place where Sai Baba stayed and blessed his devotees and people who flocked to him. He was above all caste and creed and welcomed all and sundry with open arms. Sai Baba has a great following due to his gentleness and love for all human beings. Shirdi is supposed to be a very holy place and I had a deep want to go visit the place and feel the presence of the holy saint who once lived there. I went, with a lot of hope and wishes. I travelled to Pune and endured a treacherous drive on bumpy roads and arrived at Shirdi at 4 o' clock. It is a noisy Maharashtrian town, which has shaken off its village charms and has taken on the viles of the city. Around 150 - 200 kms from Pune, the bustling town draws a lot of tourists and piligrims from all over. Sai Baba calls devotees from every corner. He called me. I went. But a security guard, a mere mortal, made my encounter a bitter one. But I will go again. My relation is with the Baba, who soothed my pain a...

This is my version of Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehnaa. Please bear with it. :) Once upon a time, in Delhi, the capital of India, there lived a guy, called Small. He had an elder brother twelve years his senior, married, with two kids. The elder brother, Big, was very protective of his younger brother, Small, so much that he pampered the kid and spoiled him rotten.Small's mother wanted a daughter very badly, but as she had a son, she named him Pinky! Much to the frustration of the guy, his mum would dress him up in pink frocks and cute dresses. As he grew up nobody took him seriously. He grew frustrated and took to drinking, drugs and smoking. Eventually, Small wanted to leave home and live alone, as people at home were treating him like a child, though he was one. He travelled away from home, and got a great job in Nify Ltd. He took up a house and started his new life. Small got many friends in the firm. He became fast friends with a girl called, Lady. Lady fell in love with Small, as she ...

This is a true incident narrated by my friend when she went on a Blind Date! Read on.... Saw the movie with err a friend. A friend who was close, but not so close, with me! Why I went, I dunno, but this is a question even my best friend, the lady with the eliminator is trying to figure out. The movie had already started when we went in. The animals in question were having a meet in their icy homeland and planning to migrate towards land. I had gone to Rendezvous to see the movie but my companion err had other not-so-icy ideas for the duration of the movie. Probably because of the fact that English was still a phoren language for people be-longing to a certain community . As my wise big friend told me (predicted) that my companion would be far far away from the dialogues, I had scoffed at her. But after I laughed at a joke and my friend was looking slightly lost, i decided that my big friend was, after all correct. She usually is. I am slightly impulsive and tend to do whatever I want ...

Coffee - its heady aroma makes you come alive, truly. What all could happen when a group of 20 somethings go on a coffee trip around Chennai, looking for a place called Barista. A lot in fact. For instance, an estranged couple could feel one's eyes boring into the other, or the presence of pretty young things in teen weeny tops could make the female of the couple suddenly feel conscious of her bulge and her expanding waistline. But love has a way of blinding a man and he cannot see any woman except his loved one. So was the case with the couple who itched to hold hands and lock eyes but rarely looked at each other and tried to act as if they were just part of the group, who were out on a trip to the cafe at Khader Nawaz Khan Road, Chennai - Mocha`. Three boys and four girls from different age groups made their way to the cafe near Barista. The couple of our story had been seeing each other for quite some time, but meeting in a group and acting as if they knew each other only as fri...

I wonder why people get so worked up about their first dates, first loves, first cars, first wives etc (!) As they say there is always a first time. Well, almost, for everything. But these firsts always leave an indelible mark on your psyches. My First Date: I don't remember my first first date, but yeah I do want to share my first date (and last date ) with a guy called Sankar. He was a wannabe groom. A typical Tam-Bram, who exudes all the necessary Kalai (charm) which a TCS-Engineer is expected to possess. He is a decent-income generator, who is a wannabe USA-Flyer, and who expects a bride who would fit into all moulds available in his house. Mr. Groom asked me to meet him in Cafe Coffee Day. I went dressed in my casuals, with no idea of what I was gonna talk to him. He had already arrived, dressed in a bottle green shirt and grey trousers, with not to forget, vibhuti (sacred ash) on his forehead and chest!! I gulped down my rising apprehension and forced myself to remain calm....

Have you ever seen a Goonda? Well, a goonda is a person, mind you it can be a woman too, who is just chickened out at the thought of showing people their weakness. A goonda shows of his (for the time being I will consider the male version) biceps power and tries to scare people into believing that he is the best. Well, most of the times he is wrong! He is just plain scared to face his inner demons and thus he tries to mask his inner demons by acting demonish on the outside. I have seen many goondas in my life. There are educated and uneducated goondas. There are goondas with a suave tongue and sleek cars, but nevertheless they are goondas. They can be bankers, engineers or even a rikshaw-wallah. But inside they have this devillish itch to show off their "goonda-ism" to the public and try to gain that extra edge that life has somehow snatched from them. One goonda lives in my apartment. He is a lawyer. I like him so much that I have been nurturing a wish of pushing a bucket fu...

I am so embarassed I cant say. My friend happened to read my blog where I had vomitted my inner most thoughts that had bubbled up! They were pure hatred put into words. Well I regret my instant writing. I do. I think I will remove the link immediately. Already I have done a lot of damage today. Guess I should keep my gab closed. Many a times we say something in a rush of adrenaline and then have to swallow our words. Today was such a day. I had to swallow my words. Well. Literally. I deleted the post. It was unfit for polite consumption. Umm..People looking for the "hate post" please forgive me. I am sorry for it. : (

Indians as a nation believe in stones, statues and trees more than oxygen-breathing people. They have this trust on non-existent powers and charlatans. I dont want to fight the belief system. I do believe that people have a great love for temples and gods, be it the smallest of stone shaped like a Nag under a Banyan tree or a statue trying to consume milk! The people at Aavin can probably sign up Pillayar as a brand ambassador, maybe ;) This blog is about belief-systems, temples and Gods. One of the greatest belief-systems plaguing Chennai is Astrologers. A dime a dozen, they are everywhere. Especially in Mylapore! I have seen Astrologers, Nadi Josiars, Temple priests doubling as sooth sayers and more. Some of them are charlatans and some are true to their professions. I am not saying all of them are dishonest. But some of them are. Take the case of one Mr. Shastry. Mr. Shastry must be in his 80s, a toothless grin, a self-satisfied stance, and a rudraksha mala to complete the effect. H...