A toast to Mr and Mrs Tim

At about quarter past 7 in the evening; I could think of no better place than the 5 th floor terrace and was in the verge of hopping my way up the stairs. Like any elder in the house, aunt interrupted with this sheep question “what are you up-to at this time of day?” Convincing her that uncle has also gone upstairs; I was feeling high about myself of the calm place I had chosen to start ‘the vanity fair’ novel. But the vanity of mine was dwindled to choose between my cell’s ringing and the book. Leaving aside all the vanity stuff; I chose to attend my buddy’s call; followed by an invite sms! Had the sender’s name not flashed in the incoming alert I would have ignored the message to be a baffling one! Having identified the “where r u? Is it possible to meet u? I am at flat A2” message; I motioned quickly to ring their house doorbell.

Let me address the sender as Mrs Poony and her husband as Mr Tim. Their sons as C(K)ow and Go! (Nicknames that were derived from their beautiful originals Kausthub and Govardhan!) Mr Tim and I discovered that we shared something that ran far into the desert sands. Isn't the clue good enough! We’re now beyond that distant realm! We‘re part of the bitsian alumina living in the world, with an unforgotten past!

Let me digress a bit here. If I say managing a band of hyper-active boys of the age range 2 to 10 yrs is a lot of physical and mental strain; I am not exaggerating. Especially when you choose to relax a while in the terrace. You‘ll need more than two eyes on one who‘ll run to climb the bench where a careless shaking will see you toppling to the ground and the other toddler smartly eloping through the doorway to step down or is it rather to tumble down stairs!

We were talking on diverse topics such as marriages; raising children; if the restriction seen in boys-girls interaction, in Tamilnadu’s co-educational colleges really healthy; luxury cars; our companies and projects; MBA; movies. It was that’s it, as far as I can recollect. Tim was talking of his Pilani days (he is a 1990 passout). MB’s scot free timings; geysers; gliding club; is OASIS still there; the prof shows; redis; courses; prof names- is he still there!; rose water anointed mess rasamalais; there was no IPC it seems then, only snail mail; is BOB still conducted; the fellow who scores last would be teased as bits of brain it seems! There used to be those authentic rajasthani modas in C’not it seems; only those plastic chairs adorned with our beloved crow’s blessings filled the place when I was there. He was thoroughly OHT; when I talked of OHT and some others that did not exist a decade earlier. Like every dutiful senior he threw light on which is M block, S block. Why it translated as FD 1, 2 and 3 in my times (I am a 2002 passout) was something I only remember a senior’s explanation which I quite easily forgot! I was busy acclimatizing to the then prevalent topography you see!

Realizing that our stomach started roaring in the course of our chat; Poony summoned us to the dinner table by drumming the tablespoon on a plate. Pizza topped with jalapeños; fried rice; raw mangoes and curd was served. The dishes tasted good; that I asked where it was ordered from. Hey guys; it’s from Chef Express and I bet you can try it. I was telling “fried rice la oil aa chuma kanla thaan kaati irukaan” (translation: he’s used less oil and reasonable amount of spice which makes it all the more sumptuous). I loathe those greasy and oily biriyanis that turns my hands too equally greasy which will not get cleansed with anything less strong than dish washing bars or liquids! Talking of pizzas; I was under the presumption that pepperoni was a veggie food; more precisely thought it belonged to the pepper family. I was educated that it was of the pig’s meat category!

What next after Sunday dinner? Naturally, it would be relaxing our way to bed. Hope I ‘m not too artificial in narrating this series of impulses the brain sends! Btw, is it not obvious that it’s not as scheduled as I sound it to be! I‘ve always liked to play with kids. I was eyeing on a way to lure him to play with me. My mobile and the magic slate he had did all the charm. Attempting to catch his hand and draw a cat together; only left him take the lead in the slate and quickly erasing our drawing and starting to do his own. I saw it! It’s his vicinity and way of amusement you see.

Time for good night. It tough to get even a single kiss from that 2 year old little rascal. When I kissed him on the cheek; he should have been in real good mood that he showered me with 1 in the left cheek; 1 in the right cheek and the last was cute brushing of each others lips! much to Poony’s envy who asked…Ehem Ehem .. Ena nadakudhu! (Translation: what’s happening!)

Poony who used to read my writings told Tim that I blog. I told him that if I feel like writing about this Sunday evening; then it’ll go as a writing in my diary or a blog* in my webpage. And here‘s a toast to Mr and Mrs T :-)

* A blog is a Web page that serves as a publicly accessible personal journal for an individual

My dreams – Pictures from the sub-conscious and the supra-conscious mind.

I never have written about my dreams. Perhaps, because the sensations my sub-conscious mind was undergoing was something my conscious mind felt it unethical and personal to share it to everybody. I tend to forget some my dreams, the moment I wake up, despite my efforts to recollect them; it would have vanished into thin air. Essentially; it is still a mystery to me as to how my conscious mind is not able to battle the unique state of my sub-conscious mind to annihilate all my dreams to nothingness. I reiterate those that I remember by marking it as “wtip* my dream” in mobile as reminder as soon as I wake or the dream wakes me up :-) Later on; I would narrate them to my confidants and feel relieved thereafter. Naturally there are a few dreams, which I’ve talked to Him alone!

Apart from the heartrending thoughts; the post –tsunami; has given me two sleepless nights ** in the form of part dream and part nightmare. I attribute this partial nomination to both because they came as a nightmare i.e. I was pictured as an encounter of the tsunami. I remember it was an indescribable anger and fear that I was engulfed with. Part came as a dream because it was spirited and there was adventure in the air. I saw no damage to anything; be it life or property. I felt alive then. But then, it left me with something unexplainable for a while. In a pensive mood; I discovered what was vexing me. The real-life tragic moments caused by the recent tsunami to naïve and innocent children; men; women and eunuch struck a raw nerve on me. How many people who had experienced it in reality are still suffering from the nightmares and dreams of that irrepressible catastrophe? And what psychological and emotional angst it would have had on those strong or tender hearts. If anybody is looking for a counselor; I am ready to offer my hands.

* wtip – will tell you in person or phone.
** Two sleepless nights – My dad came in one dream and my cousin sister Ms. S and her family came in my previous night’s dream. What was the dream would be a separate piece. Ba’bye for now.