This and that(2)-Theatre musings

1) Four of us went to a movie called "Exorcism of Emily Rose".We didnt intend to go to any particular movie and so the choice was random.The movies with the exorcism tag has always scared us which thrilled even more.As soon as the movie started,my friend Indu shut her ears(a natural response when the horror movie starts).The first half was only some stunts performed by the protagonist or the ghost or the lead role(all same) .In the interval we had a discussion of what had happened so far.The Hindu review had claimed the second half to be very scary esp the part where the ghost reveals itself.The lights were switched off and the movie started again.

This time, all of us shut our ears and looked..looked ..looked..waited..waited..till..

"This story is based on true life story.

"The End"

2)After watching dasavatharam for the the second time,five of us came out of the theatre battling the crowd.Two of the policemen outside were doing their job of directing people.One of them turned his head somewhere near our direction and shouted

"Arivu irruka?Thalu..ada chi thalu..%$^&%*^&%^%(&(^&*"

He was getting heated up.

"Who is the idiot blocking the way?" ,I asked my friend.Both of us turned around and scanned.There was no one in sight.We looked in front,realized our folly and moved out of the place.

3)First day ,First show- very rare, but we accomplished this and the movie was "shock" which was a remake of Ram Gopal Verma's hindi flick. The theatre was full and it gave us the immense satisfaction.The sound effects were so great that the calling bell rung in the movie sounded even horrendous than the intended noises.When the movie got over,we realised the guys who sat in the front provided more entertainment than the movie itself.

4)Movies with college friends are fun ,provided you go to the right movie.We bought couple of tickets at Rohini for the Movie mayavi.The first shock was that the theatre itself was empty except for you-know-whos.We were in the last seat trying to make the maximum noise and annoy others in the theatre.It was kind of ok in the first half.When the second half started,we tried the same.It went on for few minutes and after that...

"Subha..subha..hey.."

I got up suddenly ,looked around and realized where I was.

Looked at the screen-it was blank.

Occasionally,I am that pathetic.

5)My first movie at my most favourite theatre sathyam was Ayutha Ezhathu.I went with couple of school friends after the boards.I was fascinated with everything-the ambience,the stall and even the big dhabba of pop corn.I got the pop corn.It was very huge and could be generously shared.I passed it on and started talking to my friend on right.After few minutes,the box came back as expected.It was empty.

The gesture

My courtesy starts with a 'hi' and ends abruptly with a 'bye'.The rest is just curiosity.

One fine morning,or almost afternoon,I was looking at my hopeless hairstyle when the phone rang.It was my friend from banglore -my classmate in school.I was pretty surprised because we occasionally spoke and shared news for not more than five minutes.

"You home? You free?",she yapped.

I was wondering why she was so excited.

Looked at my watch like a big shot and said "Absolutely free".

"Come to waves then".

I was again surprised.Took me time to even realise what she was saying.Waves,the apparel stores,was like ten minutes drive from my place and a person from Banglore cant be there.

Wait!!..

"You here in Chennai? When? Why?What?How?"

Ok,Only a fool can ask more than what  wise can answer.

"You come here na.Will explain everything."

Excitement can do wonders.I was outside in another ten minutes.

While on road,memories flashed.I remembered her only in uniform.By the time,I could even visualize my school days,I was inside the shop.

I scanned the entire women's section.hey!!that could be her.nah!!This??Too tall.Must be the one in red shirt...

"Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii subhaaaaaaaaa" came a voice from behind.

I turned.Same enthusiasm.Simple.Sweet.Same.

I stood like Zombie.I dont know why I do that .

Suddenly even before I could realise it,she hugged me.I didnt expect that.

What did I do?

Stood like zombie.

"So,how are you??How is life?'

"Everything good.And you?"

Even spoke like Zombie .

The story part is over.Nothing funny or memorable.An incident to show how nice some people can be and how stupid one can be.It is all about gesture.

Why am i writing this?

Because I  dont know what I should do first when I meet my 'good old days' friends.Should I give them a hug?

I really havent found out.

Hidden n not able to seek

Childhood is all about innocence and energy .The enthusiasm never dies out.The colony where I live carries my fondling memories and I can relate each and every tree or building to an incident.People moved out and in ;I even made good friends but when I think of what I did as a kid,it makes me smile.I am surprised at my own vulnerability.Here is an experience from my good old days.

We (or rather a huge gang of guys and girls) had  unique game every season.Once it was hide and seek.Once you start playing a game;you find out the tricks and gradually the interest fades out.Innovative we were;we always framed different rules to make it exciting everyday.The rule of that day was -the girls were called "seekers or catchers" and the guys "hidders or sneakers"(i don't know how we came about names.Now you ask me think of a name for something or someone,my mind freezes.We even named a game "Greaxe") .The game began around 6 p.m.

The girls (as far as I can remember-Gifta,Prathyusha,Amrutha,Ramya,Monisha,my sister and me) started counting.We count till 100.how??1 2 3..8 9 10 and that ten times.he he he..we were math geniuses.By the time we counted,we also cheated.Open our eyes and find out which direction the guys run and even make strategies like which girl has to seek in which direction.

We never went alone when seeking.Not because we were scared or anything but the guys run so fast that it's impossible for 'a girl' to catch 'a guy'(pun unintended and a call for quotas).Gifta and me were the accomplice for the day and we were to seek the darkest and creepiest places as we were the eldest in the gang!!

At this point,I have to atleast describe the colony.It's huge and a paradise on earth.Now and not then.It was under construction or say, not very well built.This gave additional opportunities for guys to hide themselves in every nastiest corners.Some even climbed buildings on the rope that were used for construction that it takes 4 girls(two on the terrace and two down) to catch him.The colony was a complete amaze and a maze.

Gifta and me first went to a place near the car shed.Very dark and spooky.

"Will he be here?"

"I saw him run this direction"

"He must have seen us and taken another"

"Lets anyway try na".

We always spoke.Speaking was like soothing.It made the place seem less scary.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh.....

whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaattttttttttt?? I screamed while both of us took to our heels in some direction.

"snakeuuuuuuu"

where?where?(like the snake awaited my presence)

Dont know .green de, green.that plant snake.(yup,even our colony snakes had their own names.)

We looked at each other and slowly went in the same direction.there was something worse than snake.Ranahexadactyla..err..thats the scientific name for frog..huge one..green ..slimy..ok,stop.

Frogs are even scary than snakes.Dont ask how but to us they were.Snakes crawl on seeing us frog jump on us.See- the difference.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh...

Out of that place.

Next,we went on to search every building's terrace.Terrace is a lovely place.Breezy and scary; still lovely.Our favourite hideout due to which it was taken out of "the hidding" places in some games.

We spotted no one and heard shrills all over the place.When we looked down some4 girls were chasing a single chottu guy and he was running for his life(exaggeration but thats how he ran)."prasanth out,prasanth out!!",the chorus was sung to defame and dethrone the guy.

In another hour,a very sweet long hour,all the guys were caught except one-Jobin.Jobin ,Gifta's brother was  the athlete of our colony.Unmatched and unsaid king.7 girls and the guys met and discussed strategy yet again.The boys would join our team when they are caught.You might think it's sweet.No,it was annoying.They would keep screaming"Jobin!!run!!Girls on terrace","Jobin run!!Girls in the library".This way, the undisputed king would run to different places.

Each of us went in a different direction talking,discussing and even analysing.30 mins passed..60 minutes passed..90 mins passed..120..ok,stop right there.It was late night.

"where is this fellow hiding?"

"Aswin sollu da"(aswin tell us)

"I dont know".

"nee sonna nallaiku,neeyum naanum MAD gamela partners"(If you tell me,we will be teammates in the game called MAD).

"I  honestly don't know"

We were drained out.Completely.Defeated..oh..that we never agree upon.We were tired "of" the game.

After quite sometime,it was getting panicky.All of us started shouting his name aloud(at the same time annoying all the dhaadhi maa's who were gossiping in the park).We even made the younger guys to check in the gents restroom in the club premises.

"What if he had gone into that Atreya basement?",asked Monisha

Atreya Basement was considered haunted(Not by ghosts,come on, we are practical) by generation of mice.They squeak and we scream.Thats what happens.

"I checked there",said Aswin and we looked at him like he was the God.

We searched frantically and everywhere.So the guy has got a place that no one knew before.

"This is getting scary.What if he suffocated?",I asked.

Everyone glared.This is what happens when you ask sensible questions.

Now everyone began to give an idea like this.

"Stop it!!!!Let's go home",Gifta said.

"Go home?What about Jobin?",Prathyusha asked

"He will come back when he is tired or bored",Gifta said.Jobin and Gifta were siblings and when a sibling says that,all of us had to agree.After 10 minutes of gossip ,we vacated the place.

Sister and I were dead tired.We were half scared and half worried about Jobin.If he told our parents,they would come up with their own theories.Some things better untold. We went to our rooms,acted like studying while discussing where Jobin would have gone.

The phone rang.

"hello subha!!"

"oh Gifta,tell me"

"Jobin has been home since 7!!"

"what??!Oh!!never mind,bye"

"Bye".

I didnt know whether to cry or laugh.Slumped on the sofa and fell asleep.

multi tasking

I am a multi tasker.Ya,I am.You want to know how?

1) I can message while walking on main road(with couple of "speeling" mistakes but to some extent professional)

2)Can listen to mom's advise while reading a book.

3)Can act like listening to staff and write records underneath.

4)Can handle phone n messaging at the same time.

5)Can talk,eat and listen.

6) Can browse, listen to music (and register dad's clamour:)).

Mr.Warren Buffet..Im employable.

Chennai auto-oram oram oram po...

MUMMAI DABBAWALAS :
* Each dabbawala gets paid about two to four thousand rupees per month.
* More than 175,000 or 200,000 lunch boxes get moved every day by an estimated 4,500 to 5,000 dabbawalas, all with an extremely small nominal fee and with utmost punctuality.
* According to a recent survey, there is only one mistake in every 6,000,000 deliveries, statistically equivalent to a Six Sigma (99.9999) rating
* Owing to the tremendous publicity, some of the dabbawalas were invited to give guest lectures in top business schools of India, which is very unusual.

Everyone has given the above statistics.Absolutely everyone.All I say is that they haven't been to Chennai and travelled in an auto.

Beep!beep!
"Take an auto from the bus stand.It's kinda far to walk"-was the message from my friend who had reached the venue long before even when I boarded the bus.I scurried from my seat and jumped out the bus. All I did was give an anxious look when four autos lined up.Yup,that's all it takes for these drivers to find out who needs them.Throw some perplexed and worried look and they would be in front of you in no time.I bent down a bit and said the destination confidently.Dealing with autowalas is as difficult as explaining insurance policy to a grumbling person.You need to sound confident to pull it off safely.If they find that you are not sure;they follow their own suite. "50 rupees ma" he said.I nodded a no and said "it's too much".
The second strategy while dealing them-always make it less than what they ask for-whether you are sure or not about the place.
"40",he said. "No, 30"I replied.He frowned ,grumbled,acted like leaving and eventually agreed.They always do that.Eventually agree to you.

The vehicle was in full swing even before I got into it.Now I know why an auto has many rods across-to save you.One master turn and he drove in full speed.I don't even remember sitting;I was waving in mid air.Thanks to the roads and all the sudden U -turns in the area.
The rides at MGM(amusement park at chennai) cost almost 50 to 100 but this came for just 30.He halted such a way that for a second you can feel the soul pulled out of the body(exactly,that dementor effect from the harry potter series). At the signal,he had a face that Michael Schumacher would have loved to witness.Full of vigour and ferocious.The signals are not meant for them-govt's mistake.

My hero here stole through the tiny spaces where even human dared not to go.I have always been fascinated by mazes but this was extraordinary feat that has just been missed out in the Guinness world record.Again the vehicle throttled and partially galloped(you read it perfect -it's galloped).Every bump on the road was made evident and I couldn't stop cursing the govt,the driver and myself while he did his part by shouting at all the drivers and people on the road.It gives them thrills,I guess.

Adding to all the woes and curses,I didn't know the exact location of the place I was supposed to go.
"Stop on the right;I will ask that paan fellow".The vehicle screeched while halting.Even before I could make an attempt,he shouted "hello!!How do I go to...?".
The paan fellow took his own sweet time and mumbled something that I didn't understand but the driver nodded.The coaster ride began again.I swear I lost half of my spine in that 15 minutes journey.

I was spared from the brutality when I saw my friend waving on the other side of the signal.
"stop near the car.ya,the place where the blue shirt fellow is standing".
He halted in a style yet again.I just threw myself outside,gasped for air and gave him the money.The notes were crumbled and rolled in my hand.He grabbed it and disappeared in search for another prey.

My friend couldn't see my desperation."How much ?"he asked.
"Just 30",I said "but the experience- priceless".

Conclusion:Autowalas in chennai are faster,more or less accurate (they make sure u reach the place),earn lot more than most engineers do;).So,They too can give guest lectures at IIMs.Watch out folks.

This n That

Sometimes it is not intended but turns out humorous-my college days..

1)6 hours of Engineering Drawing because the sir had not completed the "portion".
"When the L.V. of the structure or the building...."
Suddenly I raise my hand n say 'Excuse me sir,I have a doubt".
The whole class is woken n every head turn towards me.
Sir is startled.
After few secs of silence,he asks "out?? u said want to go out??..ya, pl do".

2) In lab,swapna n me were working on a circuit but whatever we did ,the needle in the ammeter simply didnt budge.
"hey sugan,get another ammeter pl"
Sugan was also our batch mate(in fact 3 others who were chatting in the corner were our batch mates)
Promptly she found one.No use-it still didn't work.
"shall we get another transistor?". Even that didn't work.
"cha",I said finally,"I have a feeling that we are making a fundamental mistake".
Swapna turned towards me ,slapped her forehead,went to the corner and switched on the main.

3) On the very first day of college,Gaay and I were discussing about book banks.
Just to clarify our doubts,we turned behind n asked the girl "Where are you planning to get your textbooks?which book bank?"
She cleared her throat and said "British Council Library".
No expression on our faces,our eyebrows lit up n we turned front.
The girl(Mini-now my close friend) and I hardly visited the college library in the four years.

4)Once outside the networking lab.
"hey subha,got ur lab shoes??" my batch mate asked.
"Nope,I didnt.Jus the way we planned.Dont worry,they will allow us in".
Jus as luck could have it,HOD came.
"where are your lab shoes?"
Everyone looked at each other and then at me.I was the only one who seemed composed.
"Maam,it's only networking lab and we are going to work on computers.So,no shocks."
"hello!!Computer runs on 220 V.Quite enough to kill you!!",she said.
"Then why is that we remove our shoes when we go inside the computer lab", I asked.
Got a point,I thought.Everyone grinned at me.Felt like their saviour.
"subhashree!!You are lazy enough and give excuses like this??This is not the way to talk or argue.Rule is a rule"
We were made to stand out for three whole hours.

5) Lab n me have something to do with each other.
Once I came barging inside the lab after doing some errand for our symposium.I
put on the coat as I was entering.Didnt realise staffs were seated there.
Then one of them called out for me.
In all that hurry and with a confused expression I moved towards him.
"Any idea what lab is this?",he asked.
Ok,after three weeks,this should have been easy.
I gave a blank look,then turned towards my batch and asked "hey!!sir has a good question.What lab is this?"
He was shocked and put his hand on the head.Jus few minutes back, he had been telling his colleagues that our batch was the most sincere.(it's not my fault)

6) There was this staff who had a annoying habit of conducting "so called GD" everyday in class.
She would come up with abrupt topics and make students talk on it.I was called out everyday.
But my other classmates usually dont bother or jus say 'no idea'.
So,I decided to make it clear to her that I was not interested too.
"What would have if we had no reservations?",she asked one fine day scanning the entire class,"subhashree,tell me.."
I took this as an opportunity and said "I have no clue ma'am.Absolutely clueless".
She hadn't expected this from me and silently moved towards the board.I was glad she got the point.
Out of blue,She suddenly turned and asked "Subhashree,stand up and tell me -why dont you have any clue?"
I gave her a blank stare.Think I cursed myself too.

An article in the newspaper(omg!!)

19 dishes on the menu at food shortages summit
Patrick Wintour and Patrick Barkham


As the food crisis began to bite, the rumblings of discontent grew louder. Finally, after a day of discussing food shortages and soaring prices, the famished stomachs of the G8 leaders could bear it no longer.
The most powerful bellies in the world were compelled on Monday night to stave off the great Hokkaido Hunger by fortifying themselves with an eight-course, 19-dish dinner prepared by 25 chefs. This multi-pronged attack was launched after earlier emer gency lunch measures — four courses washed down with Chateau-Grillet 2005 — had failed to quell appetites enlarged by agonising over feeding of the world’s poor. The G8 gathering had been seen as a “world food shortages summit” as leaders sought to combat spiralling prices of basic foodstuffs in the developed world, and starvation in the developing world.
But not since Marie Antoinette was supposed to have leaned from a Versailles palace window and suggested that the breadless peasants eat cake can leaders have demonstrated such insensitivity to daily hardship than at the luxury Windsor hotel on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. After discussing famine in Africa, the peckish politicians and five spouses took on four bite-sized amuse-bouche to tickle their palates. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2008