God save me

My friends...

once case, sees a dog.. she rushes to the dog and asks it its name... and expects the dog to reply!

another case, sees a 4 yr old child.. and in order to get us snapped on her camera phone, runs behind the boy, shouting, ei payya, ei payya.. thus effectively scaring him away!

speak abt a broad spectrum!

I had a really really crappy day at work today...
I was sapped of all energy and enthusiasm. So, very morosely, I was on my way back...

I saw an old aunty going through the contents of the dustbin ...to see if she could salvage anything from it...
I saw a waiter clearing up messy tables... he looked very tired.
When he cleared my table, I thanked him and he looked very flustered....

I lead a blessed life.

Why?

lack of companionship?
hormones?
general boredom with the monotonous life?
the need to be accepted by someone?
peer pressure?
too much time on hands?
watever

but why!?

The temptation to finish the book she was reading kept her up till 4 am. Sadly, she had to wake up at 7 am the next day to attend an important meeting. Sleep deprivation and lack of caffeine had her in one of her worst moods that morning. The sun that shone brightly did nothing to improve things. To add to it all, she managed to miss the bus which was infamous for its frequency - one bus every 45 minutes. Cursing her luck, she started on her half an hour walk to the meeting venue. She didn't have a good feeling about the meeting to come... it took too much to brighten a day that began bad.

Sweat dripping, eyes drooping, hungry and fatigued, she walked alone on the unknown road.. unsure of the venue. Though there were signboards everywhere, she felt lost like never before. The sudden pang of missing home hit her after a very long time. She yearned for some familiar roads, familiar sights... familiar sounds....

Still unsure if she was taking the right road, she turned right and started looking for a specific lanes. Looking at the tall buildings that lined the road and defined the skyline, she wondered how she could hate them, when she had just cursed the uncivilized "retreat" for its lack of buildings, traffic and people, less than a month back. With every step she took, her mood soured and she wished she could be home, just for some sense of familiarity.

Lost in her deep sense of self pity, she didn't notice the music from the player in one the houses on the street. She suddenly snapped back to senses when she realised that it was a familiar tune... a tune she had grown up with.. MS Subbulakshmi's divine voice sang ..
"Shree Vaisham pãyana uvacha:
Shruthvã dharmãna séshéna pãvananicha sarvashaha
Yudhishtara shanthanavam punarévãbya bashatha.."


She stopped walking and closed her eyes for a minute, letting the familiar words,tune and voice reach her. Reach, they did. She walked away admiring the tall buildings...she walked with a smile on her face .. wherever you go, there is already a part of India there.

It didn't take so much to brighten a dull day after all...!

a blast from the past... a friend... reminded me how it feels to miss someone...

Did it really happen?

The roar of the wind in my ears reduces the conversation in the car to a mere buzz at the back of my mind...


the breathtaking scene unfolding in front of my eyes has my entire attention in its jaws. I can only stare helplessly as my senses try to grasp the magnificence of the beauty that lies around me, in all its glory...

I am an insignificant speck amidst all this!

the river - muddy from its travel over the mountains and miles of plains - flows gracefully, navigating the bends regally. The tall pine trees seem to show what pride really is. the mountains reach up, piercing into the clouds and rising even above it, making the clouds seem easily reachable....

The fresh air rejuvenates every cell in my body - every cell that has undergone the strenuous cycle of routine over the months...

The clouds gather and open up slowly.... the steady drizzle starts getting progressivley stronger and blows the golden droplets on to my face, in the moving car...

My father, worried about my health. sternly asks me to raise the window glass... the buzz at the back of my mind is back to the foreground and becomes an understandable conversation - a conversation, whose main focus is me.

insignificant speck, indeed.....

yechchai elai...

yechchai elai is very very popular since the ages of yore(is the expression even used anymore?)


earlier, after aathukaarar (a.k.a husband) finishes his wholesome meal on bana leaf, the aathukaari (a.k.a wife) eats on the same yechcha elai, as per custom and earns approval of all maami's.



"Chee, wat a stupid tradition... Horrible ya they are", says V, but her boy friend and her, will happily drink out of a single glass of Pineapple Lemonade Spritzers with two straws! yes, tender coconut also.




Not that I approve of either! (but who cares?)

However, i wonder what will happen when A (if)(ever) finds a boyfriend, they go out for a romantic dinner and he orders a single, tall glass of some exotic sounding juice with two straws and gazes lovingly into her eyes....
A's usual practice while drinking something with a straw is approximately as follows:

1) suck in strongly for a whole mouth full of watever liquid is in the container... say MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM or shout UWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKK...

2)repeat step 1 for the next 1 minute.

3) get bored with the drink.

4) suck in gently... and while the liquid nears her mouth, give up and let the entire column of liquid fall back into the container..

5) Repeat step 4 without any breaks...

6) blow strongly into the container using the straw so that liquid bubbles violently and there is sufficiently enough saliva mixed with the drink...

7) graciously offer a sip to anyone and everyone in the vicinity.


Will the relationship last???

another day..

The marriage was amazing! Held in one of the largest halls available, the parents of the bride had gone to great extents to ensure pomp! The bride glittered, decked in jewelery while the parents of the bride n groom flaunted all the accessories associated with the marriage. She met a lot of cousins, old friends, "interesting' people and of course uncles,aunts, grandpas n grandmas who never failed to use the same exclaimation " Oh my! uv grown sooo much! i remember when u mother smaller than u!"( *SIGH*, they haven't shrunk either) ...

The best part was the food... innumerable items were served, irrespective of whether it was it would be consumed by the guest or thrown away! she had her share of good food, refusing nothing and tasting all delicacies. Not liking something was not an issue, she could leave it on the "banana leaf", no questions asked. After attending everything other than the first night, she left with her parents in their car.

"We will be having guests at home tomorrow, are there sweets at home?", her dad asked her mother. Her mother dutifully replied that it was better to stop at the sweet shop and get some "stuff" while going home... Her dad stopped the car outside a huge sweet shop . " Stay in the car, let me go in and get the sweets" he said...Thinking of nothing particular, she looked out of the window...

Three children were sitting on the platform, wearing nothing. Their parents were sitting near them, engaged in a heated discussion. The three children were bickering over a plate, with some left over food. the youngest kid dropped the plate down and everything there came to a standstill. The father lost no time in slapping the child hard and grabbing the little hair on her head. The child screamed in pain... the father was now in a rage, verbally abusing all the three kids who were crying loudly.The mother intervened and got slapped immedeately.That did not prevent her from sticking up for her kids. Then, she picked the little food that had fallen down and put it back on the plate, consoling the kids. The father, now, distracted had starting drinking contentedly from his whiskey bottle.
She wondered.. would the children get decent meals everyday? would they ever even have a chance to get educated? or would the legacy continue? with them bringing up their kids on the platform? see their grandchildren playing on the same platform? be devoid of basic amenities? Would they ever get a chance to look beyond their small world?

Her father was back with the sweets... Kaju Katli and Mysore Pauk! YUM!

..

It started drizzling. She glanced outside the huge French windows, rooted to the spot she sat. The beauty outside did not register on her already saturated mind. The winds started off gently and then began howling... Her preoccupation snapped. She yearned to walk to the windows, hold on to the grill, feel the drizzle on her face , enjoy the scent smell from the first few drops hitting the ground, and sing a song - from the heart.... but the 4 chat windows and the 3 web browser windows held her back.

Her attention was back to the black box, the product of technology, on her lap.


****BANG****

Everything went dark for a moment. Power failure!!! But the next instant, the inverter at home started its function loyally and turned on all lights and fans. Even the dead baterry of the black box started getting recharged.

By a twist of fate, the inverter got screwed and it was pitch black again!

Now, the moonlight had no rivals to steal her attention from itself.

The moon shone in all its glory.



The winds howled through the tress, sparing no leaf. How she wished she were a leaf, caressed by the wind!

The drizzle steadied itself.


Sounds except the wind's tantrum ceased to exist!

The heart finally sang.....
A moment of pure and eternal bliss...joy...
The magic never changed... it never failed to amaze her...






The drizzling stopped....
The trees became still...
The moon hid behind the clouds....
The lights, fans, laptop and TV, were back on.

Iniya Tamil Puthaandu nalvaazhthukkal...

April 14th
Iniya tamizh puthaandu nal vaazhthukkal!
A special day for the tamil folks indeed.. siginfying the beginning of a new year...
The day usually begins with amma waking me up over n over again, n pushing me in to the bathroom for head bath. new clothes...Temple visit follows..
The best part begins after this.. A whole day of lazing around with amma's aweosme food.. payasam, vadai , vetha kozhambu, molagu appalam.. etc! wow!!!
Sun TV, Jaya TV, Raj TV on n on.. all airing diff programmes n new movies,..
meeting cousin...

Seems a world away..

My tamil New years day today...
Difficult to define when it began.. stayin up upto 5 30 am makes it difficult to define wats day n wats night! Well, officially , for tamil new years day, I woke up at 2 30 PM.
exams in a week... so pretending to study! 6 inch sub, instant noodles, 3-in-1 coffee..
for the whole day!
Brilliant menu.

well, yeah, iniya tamizh puthaandu nal vaazhthukkal.

RAIN

A million thoughts were running through her head….The drive had been good... She got out of the car and felt the first drop of the rain fall on her shoulder… she looked up and was rewarded with a few more drops that were starting to fall at an increasing rate…The drizzle became a shower…the street was becoming empty fast.. everyone was running for cover….

She would never ever understand why people would ever want to stay dry and not get wet in the rain.

She stood there.. lost in thought… the “million thoughts” in her head were being washed away by the magical drops from the sky. She started walking… away from her home…in the opposite direction, onto the road, a road devoid of people, of vehicles, ignoring the are-you-crazy look many people were giving her… all work lay forgotten..

A clasp of thunder and a bolt of lightening jarred most people and made them look for safer places to stand. ..but.. to her.. it was music.. a theme befitting the magic of the rain… she walked on.. her clothes drenched thoroughly…her spirits soaring…her heart singing with joy.. her face revealing the happiness.. the kid in her unleashed… rediscovering the simple pleasures of life…

She reached her favourite place- a place that frequently saw her – in her happiness and sadness…. She stood at the first stair of the long winding fleet and looked down at the world lie beneath her in all its glory… the deafening fall of the rain playing tunes in her mind…

The simple pleasures of life… AH!

Life is beautiful after all…

" Rain drops and Dance.... A Strange kind of romance..."

Home sick....

Homesick.

I'm homesick to-night, just homesick,
O! how I long once more
Just to sit as of old in the twilight
On the step of the old kitchen door
And watch the meek cows in the farmyard,
And the colts in their frolicksome play
Or standing contentedly nibbling
At the stacks of the sweet clover hay.

I'm homesick to-night, oh so homesick,
Just to be there once more,
And stand where the golden sunshine
Falleth across the floor;
Or to sit by the open window
Where the breeze blows happy and free^__
There isn't one spot in the old home
But brings some tender mem'ry to me.

I'm homesick to-night, O how homesick,
Never my tongue may tell,
Tho' my heart may break with longing
For the scenes that I love so well;
But the dear old home in the valley
Will be mine, O never again:
No more will its sunshine cheer me,
And wishes and tears are in vain.

^__Mrs. Ella Goodwin, Ludell.

Hurt

When your heart
Has been broken
And stepped on
It leaves you hesitant
Reluctant to try
To give in once more
To open up To emotion
To dip your toe
Into the mire
Into the ocean
Of desire
To dip your toe
Into the ocean
Of unknown emotion
If you don’t
Enter the water
You wont get wet
There is no danger
Of being dragged under
Should you take a chance?
On love again
Throw caution to the wind
Open yourself up to the pain
Or the pleasure
Feel the love
Washing over you
Immersing yourself
The waves washing over you
It may drown you
If you do
If you resist the temptation
You will be safe
Unharmed in your segregation
Yet a single moment spent
In the refreshing waters
Stood on the ocean floor
Is worth a lifetime
Spent safely on the shore

The Rainy Day

The Rainy Day……

All sounds ‘round me begin to fade away

As I’m transported into a new world of grey..

I look out and see sloping roofs, in shades of red,

The trees clustered together, a canopy of green bed…

The skies grow progressively darker

The gentle breeze gets enjoyably sharper…

The clouds pregnant with liquid gold,

Ready to rupture and shower – to put life on hold..

The yellow ball of fire usually so bossy and loud,

Now gets so shy and hides deep inside a cloud!

The world now is so pretty and sweet…

Oh! How I’d love to live forever in this retreat…

The clouds finally open up and sprinkle the world with its essence

Arising from the ground are the tantalizing scents…

The shower gets stronger, the winds more powerful..

blowing the droplets on to my face, awakening emotions so beautiful.......

In this world of mine, I can hear a voice calling out to me…

Asking me to slow down and live life carefree…

In this depth of silence I can hear the beautiful song…

The song emanating from me, buried and hidden so long!

I fall in love with nature ,over and over again…

As it fills me with radiant bliss and slowly erases all pain..

SLOWLY……

- L Preetha

arms outstretched...
reaching towards the glorious sky...
starless..
yet i cannot tear my eyes away from the tantalizing velvet of black.
the pleasant breeze carasses me...
not a sound to be heard around...
my mind is blank..
not a thought drifts by...
oblivious to any sign of life around me....
is this what is called heaven?paradise? bliss?suddenly...
i hear a familiar ringtone n jerk back to reality and pick up my noisy cell fone...
"hi appa"
"hi Preetha... wat r u doing? "
"not much dad.. just lying down outside Yong Siew Toh conservatory of music.."
"hey ..isnt it 1:30 am there?? make sure u don't catch a cold..take care.."
"sure pa.. ill take care... na apram pesaren... ill call u in the evening 2morrow..."
"ok .. odamba paathuko!"
"ok pa.. bye..good night ..sweet dreams..."
"good night..sweet dreams..."
i come back to my own world..
but this time..
my mind is not so blank...
it goes into a whirl of thoughts...sweet and sour..
random people walk in and out of my thoughts..
some significant people stay...
making me muse overwhats actually happenning in my life..
the wind gets colder and rushes thru...
i turn to my side and curl up..
suddenly aware of a pair of eyes looking at me...
YIKES! the security guard from inside theYST conservatory of music gives me suspicious stares..
i then drop my reverie..
and decide its time ot get back to my room..
switch on my laptop....
get back to the real world..
where things are very different from what i just experienced.....

My Favourite Poem!

The Road Not Taken


TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.