Invitation (5 things - Week 99)

The way to my home is pretty much easy to understand. Arrive at Manacaud junction from the East fort side. You'll see two ways to go. Choosing right will lead you to the breeches and babes of Kovalam. As you are not interested in either right now, don't choose that. Choosing left will leave you at the gates of Attukkal temple, which holds the record of having the biggest *$1%%3#& of women (which will be rewritten next Thursday on the next pongala). As you are not feeling that spiritual right now, don't choose that path too.

Now, you are stuck at the junction, and I can hear you asking me "Where to go??". Now when I finish my next sentence you'll see a road, which your brain had chosen to ignore till now. In between these two paths, there's a third one, set a little to the inside from the junction, trying its best not to be conspicuous.

And there is this S shaped curve on this road towards my home. Travel 200 meters from that curve and you will be welcome to our humble abode. And to tell you the truth, this will always be one of those curves which will always capture my attention. Whether it is due to its curviness or whether it's due to the fact that having that curve in my ken implies that I'm almost home, it brings me a lot of happiness.

And I always have this crazy habit of imagining myself at this curve on my way home from somewhere I dream to reach. When I went to CET, I dreamt of walking back home after my first day of college. When I got a job, I visualized coming back home with my first salary. When I wanted to buy the bike, I fantasized about riding it home from the showroom.

As you can see, as is preached by preachers, I visualize the end point of my dream to motivate me to 

achieve it. And I'm sure, most of you do the same.

And recently, I'm visualizing a new vision - a real treat of a vision at that too. The day is March 21st of this year. The time is nearing 9 pm. One or two stray dogs are there on the curve. So is a car. I'm inside it, and beside me is my wife.

Aah yes.. You have been taken on this journey by me to invite you all for our wedding on the 21st of March between 11.50 and 12.30 at Green park Auditorium, Aluva. And you are also welcome to join us at the RDR Auditorium, Edapazhinji, Trivandrum on 22nd March for an informal evening.

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We all know what everyone wants to do after they get married. For the five things for this week, let me take you through a list of things I wish I could get done before the big day.

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1. Get a good night's sleep.

The deputation work, though providing a variety, imposes itself on your daily routine, heavily taxing the sleeping hours.

2. Complete the invitations

There are about a million invitations to be handed out over the next few weeks, and I hope I do get them across to everyone.

3. Get the house in order

After the recent 'slight' modifications that the house has been been through, I want nothing more than to have some discipline of any sort here. Right now, everything is anywhere.

4. Have a home cooked special lunch made by my mom

It's kind of funny, but I haven't had the said kind of lunch in 2015, and we are into the third month. Come to think of it, it is more sad than funny.

5. Buy two way flight tickets for all my friends.

When you are talking about the impossible and the improbable, why not go all in, right. ;)

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So, that's all for this week then.

Have a great weekend!!

'til next week.

Songs (5 things - Week 98)

This must be a first. My laptop screen is currently bifurcated into equal halves - one portions. Both sections are currently under construction. While on the left side of the screen, this blog is being built word by word by yours truly; the other half is now showing the 'live' telecast of Crystal Palace vs Arsenal football match.

I have put live in quotes because it is almost live, not actual live. Along with this stream, I'm also following a live blog giving kick by kick updates. Now, the blog describes the action well before the actual action is shown in video format. When you consider that the blog is written by someone watching the match on his telly, then you don't need much else to question the dubious nature of the word 'live' shown against the match.

It is an interesting experience actually. I'm doing, arguably, two of the best things I love to do at the same time. And you won't be wrong to question the depth to which I would derive pleasure from each. Overlapping isn't generally added up in such cases. But since the live stream takes it upon itself to hang for some time every minute, I'm freed up in between to write to you.

The reason I'm forced to do this is because of our Saturday midnight deadline. I have had a pretty hectic week at work. This is unlike the ones I've had before. Since the work is mostly service oriented now, 12+ hours of daily work doesn't actually mean 12+ hours of actual work. It means that you have to be alert and work, as and when customers come along. This line of work is bound to end in a week. So hopefully, I'll have a decent, well thought out blog for Women's day at least.

As for today, I hope you'll excuse me, and take in lieu of the usual chitchat, these five soothing Tamil songs.

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1. En veetu thottathil

2. Malarkale malarkale

3. Nadhiye nadhiye

4. Enavalae adi enavalae

5. Kannukku mai azhagu

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You don't have to be a genius to pick up on the fact that these are some genuine, ever lasting ARR classics. If not for the lyrics, you can easily notice the repetition of words in the first sentence. That is as close as it gets to an ARR signature in words.

I promise I'll pick up the slack over the next few weeks.

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So, that's all for this week then.

Have a great weekend!!

'til next week.

I will miss you... (5 things - Week 97)

The cause of pain in this world is never the past;

it's always the future that was taken away from you.

So, if you had noticed, we had happened to skip the conversation last week. My grandmother left this world cos of old age last Saturday. The same grandmother who wanted to be at my wedding so badly, that we all were sure that that was the only reason she was living for.

I am at a loss of words actually. This is the second time such an unfortunate event has happened in my family. My grandfather passed away two weeks before my cousin sister's marriage in 2009. Even though we went ahead with the marriage, as was my grandfather's wish, she couldn't attend it. More reason for her to want to be at my wedding.

She was down with cough and cold when I got back home from training back on February 1st. When I talked to her then, her only demand was that she must be there at wedding. The fact that it is to be at Aluva, 250+ km from here was always going to make it difficult, but she made the journey successfully for the engagement, and we were hopeful of repeating it once she regained her health.

But once we had to take her to the hospital on 5th on account of low sodium levels, the chances of her attending the wedding started to wane. Because the last time she had low sodium levels, it took her two months to get back to full health and we didn't have that much time.

Time. It's a funny thing. The most conservative rule in my land states that you can't hold a marriage until 16 days have passed since someone close has passed away. A more relaxed rule puts that number at 41. So, my grandmother calculated it to perfection when she decided to leave us, exactly 42 days before my marriage.

I met last Saturday morning before I went to office. Doctors said that her sodium levels were back to normal and that she would be discharged in a day or two. She seemed frail, but that was on account of the general lack of health and compounded effect of the illness. She was shivering a lot too. But overall, it didn't seem as bad as it would eight hours later.

My final words to her were poittu varam ammumma [I'll come later grandma] and she replied in the affirmative. I didn't know then that she wouldn't reply when I came back in the evening.

Life is like that. The future is not always what you expect. What I had planned to do last weekend included watching an Arsenal match and then spending the Sunday calling up my friends and inviting them for my wedding. I ended up lifting the mortal remains of my grandmother, and generally, coming to terms with the situation.

And when the future you wanted changes to something unpleasant, that is when you feel the pangs of pain pressing into you. My wedding is the one of the biggest changes in my life, and I had planned for how it'll develop my relation with my grandmother. I had situations decided, scenes scripted and dialogues memorized. Now all that remains a would-have-been-future.

Even though she had never read this column, she knew very well that I write here every week, and used to keep enquiring about it. For the five things of this week, I want to talk about the five things I had planned for, which will forever remain just that.

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1. Going to meet her with Ammu.

2. Reading to her the Ammu, Amma and Ammumma post I have planned for the Women's day next month.

3. Having her teach my nephew basic stuff like she had taught me.

4. Learning more stuff from her about the life in the just independent India.

5. Having her at my Marriage.

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All I can thank the good lord is for the chance and good health he gave her to attend the engagement ceremony. Even though taking her back so close to the wedding is a little bit cruel, I guess this is better than me having to attend the wedding with her bed ridden back here in Trivandrum. At least now, I'll know that she'll be as close to me as she possibly can through out the wedding.