Nanum Benchum

Being in bench is kinda good as well as bad and I think me and bench have a great affinity.In two years of experience I have been in bench twice. My bench days are nearing my working percentage. But I have had different experiences in both of my bench periods. In this post I will be sharing those experiences.

Fresher's bench:

Being a fresher and getting out of training any person will expect a break for sometime. I was also having the same thought and it worked very well in my case. I was in bench for more than six months period. Those six months were heaven like thing for me. I enjoyed the period with my friends. I was least bothered about anything. Read lot of books and watched hell a lot of movies. Being in bench as a fresher has advantage like can be least bothered about the timesheets and then the project. Getting into a project is important but being in a break is also an advantage. But this break can extend only to certain time later any person will become an issue. In my case I became a issue. They wanted to push me into a project and finally I went into a project which was chaos from starting to ending. Later it took me around 3 months to switch project.

Expert's Bench:

After being in a project for two long years, I applied for transfer and was in bench for a week. This one week was very different. Being a experience person I came to know the loop holes in policies so I was not reporting. I was taking my calls (so called interviews) from home itself. In this case you can find N number of excuses to avoid reporting. But being an experienced resource anyone cannot be in bench period for a long time (more than 2 weeks). Otherwise you are a risk product. Resource group people will start playing with you, asking to attend more than two interviews a day and also different location. There is another problem in this case is the appraisal and eval.

This is what I learnt from both the experiences, taking break for a short time is good and make sure that you get into a good project which allows you to relax urself and also allows you to have some personal space.

Yen Samayal Araiyil - Episode 5

This time is the Worst experience I had. I was not able to taste the food that was cooked by me. I planned to keep Milagu Rasam. I called up my manni for the recipe. I was following her exact instructions. Finally the rasam came out and I had the first taste. It was totally sour. I had added lot of tamarind where I have to put a pinch only. Then I called up again my manni to somehow fix this. so I added lot of Pepper and salt. But the tamarind gained the upper hand. When my bro came for dinner I told him what I had done for dinner. I also added that it tastes bad. In spite of that he planned to taste it. Then he accepted that it was worst.

My original plan was Chappathi and sabji. But it was my mom who suggested that I keep rice. I would not blame my mom for my ignorance. Anyways this gave me another opportunity to learn a new dish. Now I know what mistakes should be avoided in making a rasam and also knows some way to fix a rasam in case of emergency.

I also know that I m terrible cook but I am not giving up now. I will definitely improve annd prove myself. Catch you all in my next post.

Happy 2011!!!!!!!!

A new way to begin my new year (my last new year as spinster). Me and my family took off to my mom's native place for a family function. My parents left two days ahead of myself and my bro. Me and my bro left with our cousin on Friday night for the function. Since it was new year's eve it was a celebration all over the place. It took nearly past mid night to leave the city limits. We reached a near by place around 5 in the morning from where we have to take another bus to reach our destination. We were joined by another cousin for this short trip.

The day we reached was a bit busy since the start of the function was happening in a grand way. We, youngsters attended the function for sometime and one by one started going out. Since we have two home there the function was in one place and the other home was free. We bunked the function and started playing cards. This continued till noon. After finishing our lunch we started with the Roll and Dice game. The game lasted for some 2 hours. Then we had no other choice than to sit in for the function till 2 in the night. Then it was time for everyone to sleep. By the time we went to sleep it was 3 and was woken up early. The next day was very mandatory that we should sit for the function. Post lunch was the gaming session for us. Again some lap of cards and a game of roll and dice. It was fun filled.

Later part of the evening was filled with carnatic musical concert. This was skipped by most people. I attended a small part of the concert. Then we had dinner and left for our night journey to Chennai. We had to come out of 20kms from village to catch our train.

The station had nothing but some notice board for the passenger list. There was no station master or any other kind of officials. Our train was delayed for half hour. The train was scheduled around 11:20, but we boarded around 11:50. I had sleepless night.

Next day we arrived at the correct time at Chennai. But since there was no sleep for 3 days I called in that I missed my train and would not be able to make to work. My PL was convinced and I had a nice 15 hrs sleep.

Feeling fresh after attending this function. The new year was different. More than that it gave us a chance to be away from technology. Every year we used to sit and scan the so called idiot box. But this time we got to spend some valuable time with our family and loved ones. It was also pollution free and Eco friendly new year. I also felt good living in a Terra Cotta roofed home.It gave a different environment feeling than the usual concrete roof buildings. I can never forget this new year function in my life.

Hope I have a good year ahead. Wish all of you a Happy 2011!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Big B-Day

Every year my b-day turns out to be different. This year it was remarkable. A day to be cherished in my whole life. This year it was different coz I got someone special in my life and he was the first person to wish me at mid night. Then my friends called me and woke me up from my sleep. I m not complaining for this happens only once every year. My dad surprised me by giving his gift at mid night.

My best friend Jaisree didn't call me at mid night. I was not disappointed coz I know the reason behind it. Then I sent a text to her and gave a missed call in the morning. Then she called me back and wished me. Her wish means a lot to me and I don't mind calling and asking her to wish. She has always been with me and thats why I always wanted her to wish in the first place than any of my other friends.

In my office, they celebrated by cutting a cake for me and also gave me a gift. I m first person to get a gift since we celebrated by cake cutting only not gifting. I think they have started this tradition recently in my project. Anyways I was happy to see some on my colleagues who mean a lot to me. Thanks a lot to them too.

Last year, it was my bro who gave the pleasant surprise. But this year it was that special someone who gave me all the surprise. First surprise was that he came to my working place directly to wish. He never gave me a clue that he would come and stand in front me and wish me in person. Then I took off from my office and spent the evening with him. It was an amazing evening with him. Had nice dinner and came back home. Though the time which we spent was little it was so personal that it is close to my heart in all ways.

This would be my last birthday with my family, I mean with my parents and bro. In that way also it was so special. My mom made my favorite paal payasam. Nothing can beat my mom's recipe. I will be starting to miss pretty soon.

Yen Samayal Araiyil - Episode 4

Well after a long time I got a chance to be inside kitchen again. This time I planned to prepare the entire lunch for my family since my mom was out of station.

My mom gave a little overview of the these things last nite. So I was able to grab things easily and started perfectly. With little help from my dad I started the cooking process. The menu is as follows:
1) Murungaikai Sambar
2) Tomato Rasam
3) Potato Poriyal
4) Carrot Salad
5) Cucumber Raita.

I was doing things parallely. Started with sambar. Had the tamarind water ready. Then separated the tamarind water into two different quantities. One for sambar and another for rasam.Added all the ingredients for the sambar and switched on the stove. Then added ingredients for the rasam and kept it in another stove. When they both were in simmer I started chopping the potato. Since I m a bit expert in the potato poriyal I needed no guidance for that. But my dad started suggesting certain things.

It was time for adding the dhal water to sambar and rasam. At this juncture me and my dad had a good fight. He wanted to follow his method and I told him that I will do my own method. The fight went to the highest peak that I moved out of stove and asked him to proceed. I was so pissed off that I told him that in future when I cook in my kitchen it will be on my way and not yours. He smiled and went. My bro was like "Leave her dad. Let her learn.".

Then I started doing the potato poriyal. My dad didn't intervene. I was happy that it came out very well. Then made the carrot salad and Cucumber raitha.

I felt good when I was having lunch since I had become better compared to last time. Except that the rasam needed a pinch of salt. I understood that the food would be very good if we put full heart and concentration. I m catching up with the art of cooking. Next time I m planning to give a shot with different menu.

Catch you all with a good experience next time.

Mom & Me

I m not sure when was the last time I got to be alone with my mother but today its definitely a day to be remembered. My dad and bro left for sabarimalai so me and mom had to spent time alone. We started with cleaning my bureau. We started talking lot of things. I shared few of my secrets with her. She was not surprised at all. May be I guess that since she was also a girl and have crossed this age line she was able to completely understand my feelings. Then we had few lighter moments and decided to go to my friend's place to see her child.

After reaching my friend's place we had some time to spend with the new born. It was amazing for me to see a new life form. I don't know why I had this feeling, the feeling that you will get when you hold a new life your hand waiting for its time to explore this world. I don't know how to explain that feeling. When my mom held the baby she was so happy. In her eyes I saw a new happiness. I understood her feeling. Then we went to my uncle's place.

In my uncle's place we were having some family discussions. After returning to our place I realised that my mom needed a night off. I made dinner for her (under her guidance). It was a great feeling for me when I made the dinner and served for my mom. At the end of the day, I felt that I had great time with my mom and I was feeling fresh at heart.

At the end of the day I was feeling light at heart for I made a big confession to my mom. When I made the confession she took it in a positive sense. She didn't make a big fuss about it. I think I have the best mom in the world. She completely understood me and I think I understood at least a part of her.

Dedicated to my mom who is the best mom in this whole world.

Picture Perfects!!!!!

Let me continue from where I left.

The picture which I found was my brother's picture taken during his upanayanam. I was so thrilled to see his picture. As I started digging my shelf and draw I found many pics of mine and my family at different ages. I decided to sit and take a look at the albums that we had treasured for so long in our life. So with help from my cousin I cleaned my entire room and took out the briefcase which had all the albums right from my dad's bachelor life to till date.

First I started seeing my parents' wedding album. It was fun seeing the pictures of my aunts in late 70s in my parents' wedding. Few of my aunts and uncles were yet to get married and was youthful in the album. After some time my parents joined with my cousin and me to check out the album. We started pulling each other legs and was having hearty laugh. We saw few rare pictures. Seeing my cousins in their early childhood (my eldest cousin would be only 10 in those pictures I guess) was very interesting.

Then I checked out my mom's seemandham and valaigappu album. It was also very interesting to check out the album for I have never been to one seemandham or valaigappu. The rituals and everything were captured beautifully. I was amazed to see my grand parents in the picture. I have not seen granddad (my mom's dad) in my life. By seeing these pictures I always get to look at him. I miss my grandparents. :(

Then our housewarming pictures were great. My dad had taken pictures of our home at different stages right from the foundation to the completion and then the ceremony. I found one rare picture where my uncle was carrying my cousin (his child) and my aunt was carrying me. I miss them both. I still remember that I was a messy child who cries when parents are not near (I didn't need both of them but at least one of them) and those house warming pictures proved pretty correct about that. :)

Then we were looking into the pics of my bro's and my early childhood. It was very funny to see us in those pictures. I was not able to believe that it was myself in those pictures. At this point came my bro's upanayanam album. Well in this album I was able to recollect certain events for I was 5 years when the function happened. I found one picture where my cousins who fall in my age were together. It was amazing to see how we have grown in these years.

Then there were few other pictures from my dad's bachelor life. He recollected all his friend's name and what they are all doing at present. I was really stunned for he had been in touch with them all these years. Hats off to my dad!!! Then there were many scattered varieties of pictures taken during different occasions. Most of the pictures were very rare since it would not happen for another time.

My parents also had a nice recap of their marriage and other important events in their life. I continued with my tour albums and my college pictures. I found that I have changed a lot in a span of two years after college. So it was actually worth seeing those picture reminding my days in school and college.

Well my evening went eventful. I decided to scan few rare pictures of my family and upload them to my cousins so that they can show them to their child and may be they will try to dust their albums too.

Memories Revisited

This mail is dedicated to all my friends who has turned my life in every corner and supported me when ever I needed.

This evening I was cleaning my shelf and came across my slam book. I stopped my cleaning in half way and started reading the slam from my school and then from my college.

Well it was fun revisiting those memories. I was recollected by many events that happened in the school and was having a hearty laugh when I read few of the pages in the slam. I was also wondering if I was having the characteristics that people have pen down in the slam. Guess few things are very correct. When I was going through pages I saw that there were two entries in the same name(Arun). I know three of my school mates with the name Arun. I remembered that I asked two of them to pen down in my slam. The matter is that both of them forgot to put down their initials and I am still trying to figure which page was written by whom. I guess I will not succeed. I was also thinking how long have I been in touch with my school mates. Truly speaking I have never been in touch with my schoolmates except very few. Recently I got a chance to meet one of my school mate in my work place. We even share the same bus for transport. Now we both share a friendship with each other. Guess there are some possibilities to make new friendship with old school pals.

Then I came to my college slam. It took me a lot of time to finish the slam. Not only my friends had pen down their feelings but even my juniors. It was very pleasant after a long time to recollect the memories. The fights,the laughs, the lunch and many things that we shared. More than that I found out that one of my college mate has even become a close friend after my college days. Even now I see my college mates in my work place and have a good rapport. I guess when we come out of college we realize that we missed out lot of things. I even realized that if I get time machine I would revisit those memories and fix certain things (like saying sorry at right time, spending more time with the persons who mean a lot and many more). I know that it is not very late to do them now also. Guess I would do it.

After finishing the slams I found that I have carried few of my characteristics with me in college from my school which I think is correct in my part.

Then I found few things that I have treasured from my old school like pics of my frnds, ID cards from them and the officer bearer batch that I had in my school.
I also found two chocolate wrappers that I had treasured from my school mates. It was very emotional for me for I miss those carefree days with no responsibilities. Those days can never be forgotten for we were all treated as children and not grown ups.

Hope you people also revisit those memories and relive them.

Then I found a picture which really turned my evening upside down. I will continue that in my next post.

Blend of Music in my Life

Recently when I was searching my system for the instrumental piece of music I came across a folder named Morning Raga. I started hearing the pieces and I simply fell in love with the music in it. I searched in the web for the movie and watched it. The movie was good for it relaxed my mind entirely. But before watching the movie I heard the song Mathey more than what 50 times for it was amazing till I saw the movie. After watching the movie I found few more pieces excellent.

I have always had the craze for the string instrument from my high school. I wanted to learn either guitar or violin. After 23 years I concluded that I have to give it a shot. I was amidst the confusion of choosing between the two. Guitar is western where as violin has a carnatic touch. Since I m a crazy fan of Ganesh Kumaresh duo I landed upon violin and has been learning for the past 8 months.

When I heard Thayae Yasodha in this album I was amazed by the way the violin was used. All in my life Mahaganapathim has been my favorite in the carnatic angle. Have heard lot of version of the same song like the one piece that comes in this piece. The song in any version always leaves the heart refreshing.

Right from my childhood my mom wanted me to learn vocal. I found that vocal was not my arena. But it took me 23 long years to figure out what I m really interested in. I m have a feeling that I have wasted all these years.Yet I feel that it is not too late for I have few more years left in this world.

This music which has blended in my life is changing everything around me like I feel fresh always.I m starting to see this world in a different way.I feel music everywhere around me and everything around me. This is changing everything in me. All in my life I have never felt traditional or any of those stuffs but now at present I m feeling like I m turning into a traditional girl. More than anything these kind of music has left a small trace in me which I m holding it at present.It is nothing but a thin smile in my lips.

I think it is a bend in my life which is making many things different. I m not sure how long it will sustain in me but the music in my heart will die only along with me.

What is my pupose???

After 23 years of my life, on 14th april 2010 exactly @ 17:37 I m having a big doubt about the purpose of my life. This question popped because I m bugged up with my life for this day. It is supposed to be my holiday coz of tamil new year and I felt like I dont want any more holidays in my life(at least for the time being).

There was nothing much in the idiot box even on the occasional time. So I sat in front of the other idiot box (computer) and watched a couple of movies. But, for gods sake how long can I watch movies. So took a break and logged into chat. Caught couple of my frns online and started bugging them. One frnd took off in the middle (well at least she is busy with her lyf) and with another frnd I was running out of topics to talk with him.

I was missing something.Oh yeah..music.. I turned on the music and started singing(I know I m bad. But couldnt help). Now it is only 17:50 and I have till more than 6 hours in this day to spend.

Even @ the end of this post I don't find what my purpose is. Well at least it is only for this day, for tmrw I have to get up early and race in the corporate world to get myself bugged up again with that world.

At least I spent some 20 minutes here.It is time for me to start thinking again what my purpose is.

Sweet Realisation

When I started this post my heart was heavy with lots of hard feelings. When everybody says, "I have had experience." I always had felt why the hell they say as if it had been a part in their life. Well in case of friendship some has come true in my life too.I always fought with my parents,cousins and who ever not that I would be in touch with my friends forever and meet them when ever I need to. But I think life has proven my theory wrong. Recently my friends started to get settle in their life. It is a feel good moment when you see your friend getting settled. Especially in case of friend who supported you through your rough times and with whom you had fun, more than that from whom you have learned a lot about what life is. But what happens after that feel good moment is very hard to digest, for you know that your friend is no longer only a friend for you, she is a wife to a person, in-laws to many people and they come into the highlight. I think this the place where a real friend has to understand the changes happening.

Well I think it took me 6 months to realize that, especially tonight. My friend has come from UK on a short visit. We made up our mind that we would try to catch up. I told her that even if it is 10 minutes I would be happy. But guess what, she called me and apologized that she can't meet up with me and she is leaving India in 2 days. I m not sure if I would get a chance to meet her in near future. It is very possible to talk over phone and send a mail but nothing is worth as a good talk in person. Just one look at the face with whom you have joked and cried will revive the energy and turn your world upside down. But I think I m gonna miss lot of such things. I m happy for one thing that has happened in my friends' life, their marriage which have made them look the different perspectives of life.

In case of my guy friends it is entirely different. They try to get a head into their job organizing their future and what not. I hardly speak to them. I know it is mistake from both the sides. When I call them they are busy and when they return the call I m busy. So this is how life treats you and I guess we have to find a way to sort things out and not to mess it up.

Now I have tears in my eyes for which I m not sure of the reason. I have realized that I have to live with the memories and have a chat over phone and be in touch with mail and whatever means I get to hold on. I call this as sweet realization because I think the time for me to settle is not so long and I have to accept these things a part of my life too.

I dedicate this post to all friends who had this sweet realization and accepted the changes that have come your way. For others all I tell is fight with your friend, cry on their shoulder, gossip in their ear and cherish every moment.

A Change of thinking

A day filled with two movies touching the similar field is very hard for heart.

I watched Julie & Julia and Ratatouille on the same day. They both changed my view about kitchen and cooking. I have always felt kitchen as my battle ground. I always used to imagine myself in an armor before entering kitchen. I have never come out of kitchen without screaming(obviously I would have done something stupid to hurt myself). For this reason my folks don't allow me to cook. But I know that I can't learn anything if I don't do any mistakes.

Tonight these two movies dared me to look cooking as an art and the kitchen as art gallery. One thing I concluded from these two movies was that it really requires a great deal of patience in kitchen and also it requires lot of interest to master the art of cooking. It also struck me that nothing is easy in life.

I think it is time for me to remove the armor and use a apron and ladle for cooking. I m gonna try to think cooking as a passion rather that a fighting stage. It is also high time I tried something cooking. The continuity of yen samayal aaraiyil part is still pending. Guess it is time for me to put some thing in that post. At least for that sake I will soon enter the art gallery(Kitchen), thats what I m gonna call henceforth.

Saturday @ Beach

After the blore trip everything in my life is pretty kind of different, especially getting along with my cousins, nephews and nieces. It always provides energy for me in a different way. One such another event is this beach meeting. Last morning I got a call from one of cousin asking me if I was free for the day so we could all go to the beach. I should say I was fortunate, so I took my bike and went to my aunt’s place first. Then from there we went to another cousin’s place just as a visit. We spent some time there and started to beach.

Since we had only one bike my cousin, myself and my niece decided to go by bike. We went to food court before going to beach. Then we were playing ball game. We went even crazy playing running and catching. This reminded me of my child hood (though I was sprinter at that time and not any longer). Then it was time for us to get drenched in the beach. As usual, my fear of large water bodies took over me. My cousin gave me the spirit and took me into the beach (I guess this is the 5th time I m giving a shot in daring against my aqua phobia). Soon we were joined by another cousin family and we all had fun in the water. I was taken aback when I saw how little niece was getting drenched when I was clinging to my cousin’s hand.

Well, we got drenched and the next famous thing in our beach is the baked and spiced groundnut (In tamizh masala kadalai). First time in my life I gave shot @ everything in the beach starting with shooting balloons. My cousin and I shared 4 shots each in a round (I think I missed 3 shots hahahaha!!!). My cousin and I went so crazy that we decided to go in the miniature version of the giant wheel (It is meant only for the kids below what, say 10 years). But we took a shot. It was an awesome ride. Then I thought why I should leave the Merry-go-round (Hahaha!!!!!).

It was time for our dinner. Before dinner, one of my cousin decided to drink a local drink called “Jigerdhanda” (sorry I m not aware of its English name). I tasted a sip and didn’t like that much. Then we made our dinner order. I and one of older cousin went mad about one local dish called “sarkarai pongal”. Earlier we ordered only one cup and later we ordered another cup. It was awesome.

The time for good bye came. I and my cousin came back in bike. Imagine fully drenched in jeans and a top, 60kmph in a bike @ 9 in the night near IIT- Chennai. Wow, it was amazing. This is one of the Saturdays I can never forget in my life. It has added essence to my life. More than that, I learned that these kind of get together bonds the relationship very well. The next day, when I woke up I felt much younger rather than tired.

The Year 2009!!!!

The year 2009 had been a great year in my life. Mixed with emotions and joy I recollect the happenings in this post.

January 2009:
As usual the waiting(call from corporate, don't want to disclose the "big name") continued. Got too vexed and decided to search for some other opportunities like BPOs. In fact I attended an interview but didn't join the company. But the sweet news reached on 16th Jan 2009. Finally my company called me for the training(Yipee!!!) to join on 25 Feb @ TVM

February 2009:
I was so blank for 10 minutes. Didn't know what I did. Got it, I was busy shopping for my training since it was out of Chennai. But a bombshell came on 13 Feb 2009. My training dates was re-scheduled to 4 Mar 2009 and also the venue as AHM. OMG!! was out of my mouth. My parents were a bit shocked. Then came the confusion in booking tickets. Booked waiting list tickets and finally confirmed the tickets only through takkal. Yippeeee!!! Finally I was going to attend the training.

March 2009 - July 2009(Mid July):
Amazing days of the year. Had fun @ my training centre. I would always like to relive those days. To start with was the holi celebrations which was a ice breaker between ppl in hte training period. For some health issues I discontinued and rescheduled my training with few other fellow mates. Still I had all the fun. The weekend outings to mall, search for good food and birthday celebs were awesome. The trip to dwaraka was amazing and unforgettable. I m so grateful to the corporate since I got few good and caring friends. In fact these days gave me an opportunity to blend with ppl to whom I have not even spoken in my college. My best friends bday celeb @ midnyt was awesome. I was planning for one such celebration for more than 4 years but executed it successfully this year. The training days gave me lot of experience like tolerance, happiness, friendship and what not.

July 15 2009:
I reached home at last. After four hard months I tasted home food. It was heaven. I was happy because it was my parents wedding day. I gave my dad a shirt and my mom a saree. Had fun in my home.

July 20, 2009 - Oct 13,2009:
The days in the bench. I had fun being the bench for some tym. Invited my friends for navarathri to home. Had some fun. I would be glad to back to bench for some more time. These days were gud because I started reading lots of books and watched some good movies rather than toiling in front of the system. The big family trip to blore, during September, for a family event turned out to be eventful. It was like a full family gathering for a week though I made it only for a single day.

Oct 13,2009 - Dec 31,2009:
Well, I got into a project thru my friend. Time for me to toil in front of the system. It was good initially to be inside a project especially with your own training mates. We had all fun and are still having fun. Birthday celebs,X-mas and New Year Celeb were different once we are into the project.

Dec 16,2009:
The big day of my life with lots of surprises. More surprises came from family. A day for myself. I can never forget this celebration in my life time.

Dec 25,2009 - Dec 28,2009:
The trip of the year. The trip to blore was amazing,fun filled and close to my heart. It gave me an opportunity to enrich my relationship with my cousins, nieces and nephews.

Dec 31,2009:
The last day of the year, I did nothing much. The first call I made on 01 Jan 2010 was to my friend Earnest followed to my bro and to my best friend Jaisree. I called no one else because these 3 ppl made my 2009 different from many other ppl in my life. I owe them a lot in my life.

Thank you all for being with me in the year 2009. Hoping to continue with you ppl in 2010 and many more years yet to come. I take this opportunity to say SORRY!!! if I had hurt in anyways.

The year 2009 was awesome and hope 2010 is also filled with surprises!!!

P.S. 2009 was so different as I entered into a new world called blogging full fledgedly. This became an outlet and also a place to learn many things. My special thanks to all my blog readers.

Long Weekend!!!!!

24/12/2009
Towards the end of the year I had an amazing trip to blore. First of all I still don't believe that I made the trip. Out of the blue I decided to go to blore(this I did after finding out that my cousins are going). Basically I didn't want to miss the fun. Starting from booking the tickets everything was chaos. For two days I was making up my mind not to go to blore. But finally I decided to book the tickets in takkal for the trip. On the day of booking three ppl(includes myself too) were trying to book tickets for me. Finally the lucky charm was my bro who called me to deliver the happeist news for the day. I informed my teammates and my project lead that I will not be cuming to office on moday. Well, before this My cousin called me and asked me to cancel the ticket since we were going to make roadtrip along wid my atthimbaer(sis's husband). Awesome that I needn't worry about my return journey.

25/12/2009 & 26/12/2009
This is the first road trip in my lyf and enjoyed it. We made a short stop on our way and reached blore in 6 hrs. My othere cousins were yet to reach, meanwhile we started playing cards. Soon we were joined by my niece and we continued playing cards till midnyt. We didn't plan much for the next day. We went to Forum Mall for shopping(that does not include me though I was so interested in buying a shirt for myself). I suggested the same shirt to my niece. Then we reached home and again played cards for some time. We all went to bed early since we had a big day ahead.

27/12/2009
As planned by my cousins we started our trip to Sivanasamudram and Thalakadu(place where River Cauvery is in the form of falls). We expected to have great fun in the falls (Sivanasamudram) but was disappointed since there was not much water in the falls. From there we headed to Thalakadu. We all decided to have nice bath. Due to aquaphobia I decided not to get into water. My cousin,atthimbaer and myself boarded a parisal and went a round in the river. I stood with my cousin in the shore feraring the large body of water, but one of my cousin pulled me into the water(still that fear is not out of me). I had nice time in the water but always had the fear of drowning. Was holding my cousin's hand all the way till I reached the shore. Then we went to the nearby temple. The temple which is famous for getting buried in the sand. The environment was awesome and it was drizzling. During our journey we had fun playing anthakshari(old vs new). Eventually old won the game. We all reached home and hit the bed directly(Except 4 of us).Next day was my nephew's b'day. We started packing the gifts for him. At this point we found who are all crafty handed and were having a little fun.

28/12/2009
When I woke up I didn't feel like leaving blore. I called my colleague to confirm if I had to return to Chennai. My friend(colleague) informed me that my project lead was expecting me to be there the next. I was totally disappointed. I packed all my things half-heartedly(Guess none of cousins knew this). As planned my atthimaber and myself were returning to chennai. Around 12 in the noon we celebrated our nephew's bday and gave him the gifts. Though it was so simple way of giving gifts it is always good to see smile in the kid's face. He was so enthralled with so many gifts. During our lunch I received a msg from my friend regarding the status @ office and I was officially screwed. After our lunch we hit the road. Without break it took 6 odd hours for us to reach the city limits. I directly hit the bed since I had to go to office the next day.

I cannot forget this trip for many reasons. First I got time to be with my niece,nephew and my cousins(this doesn't happen everyday), the road trip was awesome, the weather was splendid and finally I didn't fall sick(everytym I go to blore I will fall sick and return in bad shape). I did miss one thing in this trip rather one person..exactly ryt thats my bro. I missed him because he is a fun loving person who missed this trip. Sorry Bro!!!!

The BIG Day!!!!!!!

16-12-2009, I can never forget this day in my life. All these years I have celebrated my bday but not like this one. Every year I receive call from my frns @ midnight. This time for a change I put my mobile in silent and went to deep sleep. On the big day day I did all my rituals(every day things). My first wish came from my mom followed by my dad and received blessings from them. When I rearranged my bag for my work I saw a small box gift wrapped inside my bag. I took it out and asked my dad If it was from him. But the answer was no. Then my mom remainded me that my colleagues would have slipped it in my bag for a surprise. But I was sure it wasn't from them. When I opened the box I was in a shock. For a minute I wasn't able to breath. There was a small platinum pendant with three diamond studs. I realised that this should be from my bro. All these years my bro had never gifted me a thing and this was unbelievable.

Then I always wanted to receive first wish(other than my family) from my close friend Jaisree. I went to her home around 7 in the mrng and woke her up to get my wishes (She was the first person to call me @ midnyt and I didn't pick her call).

After reaching office I received wishes from my training friends which was a surprise too. Then I got call from my friend from training(What a big surprise). Then the day @ my office ended with a celebration with my team mates. Got a cake from them with a gift. My guess was a book but they proved it wrong. They gave me formal shirt with a quote mug. I left my office early wid bday as an excuse.

When I reached home I found my bro @ home. I was surprised to see him so soon from his work. We had a small family chit chat and a family dinner. This day is quite unforgettable for one and only reason is that my bro turned to surprise after all these years. Another reason is the time I spent with my family.

Thank you to my family who have been tolerant(and has to be for the years yet to come)... my frns esp.Jaisree who lends her shoulders whenever I m in need and my colleagues for their surprise.

THANK YOU ALL!

The Day Of The Jackal!!!

Of course, the jackal here refers to none other than myself. After a long time I decided to meet my close friend. I called her surprisingly and informed her that I will be coming to her home. Since her mom was in my area she asked me if I can pick her mom also on my way. I called her mom and asked her where to pick her up. She said that she would be making to the picking place in 20 minutes. I went to get gift for my friend(it was her birthday in two days) and fueled my bike and went to spot earlier than I guessed. So I had to wait for some time for her mom. Her mom arrived and we started towards their home. Without realizing it was a holiday I took a wrong route to her home. I picked up one of busiest route to her home. What an idiot I am!!! Usually it will take me 20 minutes for me to reach her place. May be 30 minutes if I have a pillion rider with me. Guess what it took me 2 hours to reach her place. My palm started to ache and some parts of my body started getting numb(I don't want to mention). Then my neck started to pain due to helmet and fingers due to braking. I was totally fed up but was glad to meet her.

Things does n0t go well for some. I guess I am one among that lot. Another friend and her relatives also came the same day. So she was not able to spend lot of time with me. But I was okie with it. Then she got a call from her colleagues asking her to come to a restaurant. My God. I never expected her to be so busy. Myself and her friend played our part and didn't allow her to leave top meet her colleagues. After some 2 hours she started feeling so bad that everyone had come the same day and she was not able to spend the time properly with particular person. Then I decided to leave. On the way I dropped her in the restaurant. I was glad at least I could meet her. While returning, for the first time in my life I violated a traffic signal. I took a U-Turn inspite of a red. Actually when I crossed the stop line it was yellow so I took an U-Turn. I thought I should not stop after the stop line which would not be proper. Guess what??? Traffic police caught me. Right in the middle of the road he yelled at me for violating the signal. The best part is that he was shouting for the sake of pedestrians. I took a good care that I didn't hit anyone. I just stared at him and apologized. After 30 minutes I reached home and was wondering what a day I had.

The thing that was left for me for the was body pain and more than that I was thinking why the hell did I violate the signal. I have seen people doing it and I have even shouted at them. For the first I time was shouted at. I have even seen the police violating the signal. But I guess it was my day to be caught.

Race In The Railway Station (Irresponsible Railways)

Last week my parents left on a pilgrimage trip to Haridwar. It all began with booking of tickets during the starting of the August. Since there is only one train in a week to haridwar the tickets were not available. The tickets were available only as waiting list. I wanted my parents not to take a chance but my dad did take a chance. He asked me to book the ticket since there two more months left. As the days passed we all got worried since the tickets were in the waiting list. Two days before the travel date we found that my cousin knew someone in the railways. We made a request to move the tickets through energency quota(EQ). My parents ticket got confirmed but my other relatives' ticket didn't get confirmed. The day arrived. Two more tickets got confirmed. There were two more left. When we checked the status it gave us a waiting list. So we did took a chance since we didn't have any other choice.

On the day of journey me and my cousin decided to send them off. As soon as we reached the station we left everyone in the corresponding platform and went to check the RAC list(actually double checking). We found four tickets to be confirmed. The ticket which was in the waiting list was no where to be found in the list. We were shocked but we thought they might have missed out in printing. We actually went an hour early. After some time we again checked with the system and it showed the two tickets to be in waiting list but not in the chart. We waited for the TTE to arrive. When TTE arrived my dad,myself and my cousin went to check with him. He said that those tickets are dropped and they are not to travel in this train. My dad got furious and started questioning the TTE. I told my dad that there is not point in arguing with him. I checked with TTE if there was any other way to travel. He asked me get open tickets for them so that they could travel in the train and pay a penalty later. Penalty is for traveling in sleeper class since you can travel only in unreserved with an open ticket.

Here comes the best part. My dad left his wallet with my mom who was in the compartment. The time was 9:10 and the train would be leaving around 9:40. We didn't have much time left. We all raced to get the money. Lucky that we had relative in the compartment which was prior to my parents' we lent some from them and myself and my cousin raced to get the ticket. We didn't know where to get the ticket. I started running but soon was short of breath. I gave the money to my cousin and asked him to run as fast as he can. When we inquired where to get the ticket we found that it is issued in the next building. OMG! We were really tested. My cousin ran as fast as he can. I started jogging. In the next building we went to the first floor and found that the ticket was given in the ground floor. Gosh! By now the time was 9:20. Luckily there was no crowd in the counter. Then we found that there is possibility to get senior citizens ticket. Since the passengers where senior citizens we decided to take it. My cousin asked me if I have the proof and you should have guessed now. I didn't have it. We took chances and the ticket provider didn't ask for any proof. Good, we got the ticket. Now the time for running again.Time was 9:30. My cousin ran ahead of me to give away the tickets. We reached by 9:35 and gave them the tickets. For five minutes we took long breaths. But before that I had a word with the TTE to provide them berths if possible.

IRRESPONSIBLE RAILWAYS:
1. They never sent a mail that the ticket was dropped.
2. If the ticket is dropped why the hell is it shown online as waiting list.
3. There is no way a person can know if the ticket is dropped until 3-4 hours before the travel.
4.When I have a ticket why should I pay for an open ticket and later a penlaty.

The railways should really take proper steps. If myself and my cousin had not gone my dad would have raced and he definitely would have missed the train. There should be at least prior information. At least 2 days before the travel so that proper alternate arrangements can be made. I don't know when the railways are going to learn.

When will it stop?????

I think watching a movie in a theater is very far for me. Every time I go to watch a movie I have some thing that may not happen to every one. As far as I remember I have put down the list.

The very first time I went to a movie(The matrix) with my cousins we entered the theater after the movie had started. We missed the first 20 minutes and as a result I totally didn't understand the movie. This happened some 10 years, so now I have watched for more than 25 times and even know the dialogs by heart.

The next time I went to the movie(Black) with my cousins I didn't understand anything. I felt ashamed that I didn't know our national language. Later I got a copy with subtitles and watched the movie. Now I can understand Hindi and also can manage to a certain level.

The same year my cousins took me to a Tamil movie(mayavi). I don't like the hero much. watched the movie for the sake my of cousin.

I always wanted to watch my favorite hero's(madhavan) movie on screen. I decided to take my cousins and finally ended getting scoldings from them. The movie(Vazhthukkal) was horrible. Even though my favourite hero had acted I felt the movie to be the worst in my life.

I wanted to watch a harry potter movie on the screens. Me and my friends went for the order of phoenix movie. Firstly, the movie was pathetic. After break me and my friend missed the 10 minutes part since we went to get some refreshments. Anyways I decided that I will never watch harry potter on the screen for the movie made no justice to the book.

Recently I went to Angels & Demons with my friends. Well as I m known for making some non sense mistake. I did something when entering the screen. I missed a step and slipped my slippers and was searching for it without even bothering that the movie had started. I was on knees and searching with my hands. Thank god. It took only 5 minutes for me to locate it. But the best part was that every body around me(even the strangers) came to know what I was doing. Thank God the lights were out.

The final piece is this one. Two days back I watched a movie(Ninaithalaey Inikkum) with my friends. The movie was horrible. The best part was that when we entered the screen the movie had started(as usual) and I forgot to notice the steps. What would have happened,I fell on my knees. My entire body weight rested on my right knee and I have got a sprain. Thank god there was no fracture. Even when typing this post I could feel the pain. More over there was problem with the projector after the break and was a delay for 15 minutes. Already we were ready to get out of the theater and never expected for a delay. We stayed in the theater for the sake of the monet that we paid.

I feel like banging my head whenever I go on with such kinda experiences. Most of the time I felt like running away from the theater begging WHY ME!!!!I hope I watch a worthwhile movie in the near future and more than that I think I should at least make it on time for the movie. Waiting for such movie.

Yen Samayal Araiyil - Episode 3

Well, as usual I got another chance to look inside the kitchen and prepare some thing. This time it was not the upma but a rather simple dish, potato fry. I actually have done that properly for many times. But it was only for me. This time I prepared for two people(me & my bro). Since I knew the preparation by heart I didn't require any guidance(I though so). I chopped the potatoes into fine pieces and then put the frying pan on the stove and poured some oil. Then roasted certain items which are required for garnishing. Then I put some sambhar powder as I always do. Initially I put a small quantity and on second thought I put some more. I didn't know why I did that but that was where everything went wrong. I realized I forgot to take some onions. So I kept the stove in simmer and took the onions and chopped into fine pieces. I did this in 5 minutes which is a record time for me. But guess what the dhals got fried more and became a bit dark brown. I just ignored and put the potatoes to roast it. After mixing everything I figured that the sambhar powder was in excess and on an impulse I thought I should add some more potatoes to level the composition. I frantically started searching for potatoes. But there was none left. Thanks to my mom. She didn't want any vegetables to get wasted since she was not home for a week. Then I saw that the dhals became dark black. I had no other go than to taste this potato. It was horrible especially the dhals tasted like hell. But my bro was so kind that he told that only the oil was in excess. I really have to appreciate his tolerance level.

LESSONS LEARNT:
1. I m very bad at cooking.(I don't know when I m going to learn them).
2. I did it whole-heartedly but still somewhere something went wrong.
3. Never in my life give a second thought while cooking(adding anything in excess).
4. I guess in future some one is going to experience the bad cooking at my hands.

Guess I would do something better the next time I enter the kitchen.