Auto drivers in Chennai heave a sigh of relief

   Auto drivers in Chennai are euphoric on hearing the big news. They are not able to believe their luck, say eye-witnesses. Their joy was palpable and there for all to see. Huge celebrations are being planned to celebrate the grand occasion. According to sources familiar with the agenda, the celebrations will start with breaking of a hundred and eight coconuts at the Santhana Srinivasa Temple at Mogappair. Mr. Palaniappan, President of the Auto Otara Manidha Sangam, confirmed this. “Yes, we have a lot to thank God for. I never thought I will live to see this day. Now I will not stop my son from joining my profession.

After the traditional beginning to the evening’s function, the auto drivers will proceed to the Anna Tower for a session of hooch followed by dinner. “I will not stop him today”, says Karuthamma Selva, whose husband drives an auto on the Mogappair to Nungambakkam route. “He deserves to celebrate today after all that he has gone through in the past one and half years.”

The chief guest of the evening will be Mr. Sri to whom we owe a lot”, says Mr. Arivuarasan, Secretary of the Auto Otara Manidha Sangam. “If not for him, God knows how much more we would have had to go through. Agrees Mr. Kupusamy who has been a regular victim of ‘You-know-who’ (as she is known in the Chennai auto circles). “I used to have nightmares and wake up screaming. Now I can have a restful night of sleep. May Sri saar live a long, happy and healthy life. We have decided to reduce our fares by 20% for a week. Now we don’t have to worry about anything”. His voice reduces to a whisper when he says, “Since ‘You-know-who’ now has a car, she will not harass us any longer. Long live Hyundai! Long live Sri saar!

It is indeed a joyous occassion for these men in black and yellow. And Chennai is back to being a peaceful and tranquil city it once was.

STOP PRESS: In a probably related incident, there is a sharp increase in the number of insurance policyholders. For more news watch this space.

 

 

Okie guys n gals, if you still did not get it the deal is that I bought my first car. Yippee !!!  Its an i10. My very own, bought with my hard earned money. Wish I could hug it everyday to sleep 🙂

 

 

 

 

Hitchhiker’s Guide to Arranged Marriages -Part 2

Hope all you guys could digest Part 1 well and I am stretching imagination to the limits when I say all of you are more than eagerly waiting for part deux.

Me thinks that before I reach the ‘boy meets girl’ stage I should elucidate the types of guys you usually meet (rather I met). This obviously can’t be an exhaustive list but covers the usual suspects –

Maun vrat Muni -The true believers of ‘Silence is golden’. It took all my energy, effort and patience to get a 2 sentence worth from them. Any question was met with a single word answer followed by “u?” Something like –

Me: So what do you do? (lame question, but what else does one say?)

He: I work in blah company as blah. U?

Me: I am an investment banker working in blah company. I did my schooling and college in Mumbai as also my CA.

pauseeeeeeeeeeeeee

Me: So what is your work profile

He: Blah. U?

Me: Blah blah blah blah blah blah(pause for breath) blah blah…….

pauseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Such encounters ended with me trying to tear my hair out

Motor Mouth -Talk of opposites!! These guys, a rare breed i agree, ask a question and answer it themselves. And you are enriched with knowledge about them, their families, neighbours, friends, colleagues, state of this country, next rainfall, sensex movements, bollywood gossip,….in effect everything. Something like –

He: So what do you do? I work in XYZ company as ABC. During weekends I watch movies, catch up on some reading and meet my friends. Last week we saw this movie -it was so bad. I have decided never to watch movies with that actor ever again. Btw did you know he is going around with this actress. They have a flat in Andheri. Must have made lot of money to buy flats in Andheri. The real estate prices are shooting up like crazy. My cousin bought a house in Chembur for $$$ last year. This year my neighbour bought it for the same amount in Vashi. They shifted yesterday and we are having new neighbours tomorrow. Actually they were supposed to shift today but had to postpone because of the rains. That reminds me, what was your 26/7 experience? You know what happened with me?…………… 

Me: (Thank God! I chose the seat facing the TV)

Floodgate -When I started this post I swore I will not reveal any regional biases that I strongly possess. So I shall keep that word and continue. The rest is upto your imagination and understanding 😉 Quite a few of the guys I met were totally smitten. NO! Not by me. Not at all that. But by the general female population. Any lady and they would drool. It was quite embarrassing to handle that. If you like a guy drooling over you all the time, go ahead. But I could not. I ran like….like I have never run before. (And I have never run before)

Ice Ice Baby -Talking of opposites, I also found quite a few who thought they were the Almighty’s gift to womankind….like they are doing me a big favour by sitting at the same table. Well, well. Keep those thoughts and go home dude! Something like –

He: Actually I am not in much favour of this whole arranged marriage stuff, you know. Its like…like….crazy man. I mean how do people do that kind of thing.

Me: (Grrr… go home and stuff yourself dude) hmm followed by plastered smile

Medieval Man – Actually most guys are medieval….even those who think they are ‘modern’. But as far as they make an effort….I forgive them. I am quite benevolent that way 🙂 But some take the cake. Sample this –

He: I will let you do whatever you want.

Me: (And please introduce yourself Mr. God Almighty)  Oh !

He: As far as you take care of my parents and do everything for them, you can do anything you want.

Me: (Ah! What untold freedom. I am speechless) Hmmm

Yeah! I tell you they were fun.

Ideal Man -Most welcome to my humble abode to meet him 😀

I’ll conclude in Part 3. Keep watching this space!!!

Flip Flop Dish Dash

I had a fun Diwali week in Mumbai! Detailed post sometime soon. As part of my Diwali week celebrations, I caught up with one of my ‘couple friends’ over lunch.  H ( guy buddy) & P (gal pal) have been with me in and since college where they met and fell in love. Subsequently they married and are proud of their little bundle P2.

We met after ages (read months) and the following conversation happened –

H –So how is married life? Adjusting well, I hope.

Me – Yeah sure!

H –I know your ‘fondness’ for cooking and all things domestic. *snigger snigger*. So how do you manage?

Me –Well, Sri usually wakes me up with the morning tea

P –(rushes into the room from the kitchen with the raita dripping ladle) SEE

Me –Then I make breakfast, lunch and dinner

H – SEE

Me -Simple stuff really! Nothing fancy during the week

P – SEE

Me –All supposedly fancy stuff happens over the weekend

H – SEE

Me – Sri does give me a hand most of the time

P – SEE

H – So, what exactly do you make?

Me –Well, idli or dosa for breakfast

P – SEE

Me – Rice, sambhar / rasam

P – SEE

Me –and 2 vegetables

H – SEE

By now I was thoroughly enjoying this

Me –All before leaving for work

H – (falls from the chair) SEE! I have to eat lunch at the office canteen

Me –Well, Sri does that too. He finds carrying lunch from home too cumbersome

H – Still! At least it’s all ready in the morning. He has an option of taking lunch from home. Unike me.

P –You eat too much veggies. What I made for my entire family previously, I have to make it for you alone. It takes ages to cut all those vegetables

Me –Oh! The maid cuts the veggies for me

P – SEE! So how much does the maid take?

Me – Rs. XYZ

H & P – What????

Me –Yeah! She brooms, swabs, hangs out clothes to dry, washes dishes and cuts those above mentioned veggies

H & P – (not convinced)

Me –She comes twice a day

H & P –SEE

Don’t know towards whom that one was intended! All in all an enjoyable conversation!

Disclaimer alert!

Hey H & P, I am sure you guys don’t mind me blogging about this. Actually, there is not much to worry considering you guys don’t know I blog. Nevertheless

Sri, you know my typing exaggerates my cooking and all things domestic..

Just realized this is my 50th post. Never thought I would last this long. Yipeeeee 😀

Birthday baby

Can you believe this? It’s been a whole year since I started blogging. Its true that there has not been any significant progress during the course of the year and I have not been as regular and diligent in my posting as I intended to be. I honestly cannot make the statement most bloggers make on their blog birthdays….you know the kind which say “I have grown as a person with this blog and it has helped me in many ways. Blah Blah” I’m not there yet. I am happy my blog survived a year. But I do enjoy posting once in a while and keep making resolutions of being more regular and creative in it. Its a part of me now.

I had started this blog with a post on the proverb ‘well begun is half done’. I dont know how well I started with this blog and how well it is going but it ain’t done yet people!!! I went through quite a few blogging sites till I finally settled down happily with WordPress. Its been a good year and hope to have a better next year. Happy Birthday Blog !!!

Half devil

Yeah Yeah! 333 people have visited my site till now………makes it half a devil rite? Please extend your full support for my devilish ambitions in future too 😉

And do comment more often…..would be so nice.

And another announcement….Klash is back. Yippeeeeeeeeee 😀

For the uninitiated, check it and let your creative devils out!