Ramani - 40

 

1. Friendly.

2. Caring.

3. Talented.

The above three are the primary qualities of my friend.

4. 007 - Was her Employee number. But she is a fan of Sherlock Holmes.

5. Became a watch enthusiast - A habit that she caught from me.

6. Not a movie buff, but wishes to know the story of all movies.

7. Believes that black-colored sweets are also sweet.

8. Fitness Enthusiast - A habit that she caught from me.

9. Good at programming - Something that I had noticed even while at college, tough she underestimates herself on this.

10. A story teller - Good at narrating stories of her childhood.

11. Fitness Trainer for kids - Guides our little friends on fitness.

12 .A to getter  As evident when she made our little friends into CBSE schools and making the dream of having our own home come true.

13. An achiever - Achieves everything that she sets her mind on.

14. A good cook - The first difference that I noticed after my wedding was that the food I ate became very tasty - probably because that was different from what I ate until that time.

15. A poet - Has written many poems, reading which, made even me to understand poetry.

16. A Rule-Creator - She became the reason for the birth of many rules in her office, like, no one should use knife in office, after she cut finger(a minor cut), when she attempted to cut apply in office. Another famous E-Mail from her Manager took rounds, asking people to reduce the amount of time spent on personal calls.

17. A good host - In college events.

18. A classical dancer.

19. A caring Mm - A lovable and caring Mom.

20. A combination of friendly and strict Mom.

21. Hard-Worker - Has spent endless hours to create many works of art.

22. A studious and talented person - As evident from being a Gold medalist and topper in both UG & PG. 

23. A bold person - As evident from all her actions. 

24. A right hand watch wearer.

25. Fond of costumes - Wishes to wear a variety of dresses - the style in which she drapes traditional saree in un-matching.

26. Learnt cursive writing with determination.

27. Learnt car driving with determination and able to drive on highway.

28. Leant playing flute - caught from me.

29. Video game player - But came out of that as her friend doesn't like it. 

30. Learnt Hindi along with her little friends, knowing when her Dad got surprised, as asked her "Do you know Hindi?".

31. Artwork Expert - Lot of Artzooka items in our home. 

32. Interested in nature, especially birds. I got to know the name of many birds from her.

33. Interested in taking and preserving hard-copies of photos.

34. Coin collector - Has a good collection of Local and International coins.

35. Stamp collector - Which she had done in her childhood.

36. An expert in cooking Biriyani - Leant form my Mom.

37. A writer - As evident form her blog posts and the stories that she attempted to write.

38. Interested in knitting - Has woven many woolen caps and items.

39. A Director - A skill that she developed, and directed our dance videos.

40. A firm believer of "Right is right, even is one person does it, Wrong is wrong, even if everyone does it."

        ***HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM - LOVING AND CARING*** Dhanesh

        ***HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM - LIVE HAPPILY *** Deepak

Happy Birthday to my Dear... Life is Beautiful, with you, because of you... 

--- Yours Every Loving...

--- Pavala...

Video Games

I first got introduced to Video Games while I was in 7th standard. Whenever we go to Trichy town, while walking around in the town, there used to one shop in the corner in Super Bazaar. Always crowded, mostly with school kids, and unusual noises used to come from the machines from that shop. Got to know that it was a video game kiosk. Father used to take us there,  once in a while. There were machines, almost of my height, with a TV monitor and some controls in front of it. My favorite was to the car race game, which had a steering wheel

Car Race Game

If we give one rupee to the man in the game kiosk, he used to give 2 tokens, which we have to drop in the slot in the car race machine, and we can play game. Our car will move from bottom to top on the screen, and lots of cars used to come from the  opposite direction. We have to steer left and right and drive safely without hitting the opposite cars. The cars in the opposite direction will come in random directions. The road also will be narrower as the game proceeds. I never completed that game, but I liked played it. More than playing, I like to watch others playing the game.

I first saw the hand held game console when I was in 10th standard. One of my classmate had brought it to the class. Her uncle had brought it from Dubai. I still vividly remember that game console. It was yellow in colour, about the size of our palm. It had some 5 to 6 small buttons, and a screen above it. The screen was similar to the one that used to be in the numeric digital watches, but this was a bit big in size. It had only one game. When we switch it on, it used to give a lenghy music and one guy used to appear on the screen. When we press a button, he will start walking to the right, and there will be snakes on the way. When we press another button, he will jump and thus we have to safely take him through the game.

Hand-Held Game Consoles

Hand-Held Game Console

In the next level, some eagles will come above his head, and we have to make sure that he doesn't jump when there is an eagle above him, else the eagle will catch him. The game console went around the whole class and everyone tried their hands at it. The moment it came to me, I got addicted to it. I kept playing, playing and playing. I completed all the rounds in the game. And that is the only one video game I ever completed in my life. I got so involved that I continued to play even after our Maths master entered the class. I didnt know how to make it silent or how to switch off all of a sudden. I quickly hid it inside my desk, and it continued to give the beeping sounds for 3 more minutes. There was pin drop silence in the class, with only the beeps and different sounds from the video game console.

Our master looked confused and understood that something was wrong in the class, and walked up and down, to find out what was happening. Though the sound was coming from my desk, everyone in the class looked at the girl, who was the owner of the game console. The master went to her desk and asked her to stand and asked what that sound was. I was in a terrible fear, since I may be caught anytime, and if caught, the master will impart a couple of blows on my back. She spontaneously said that its an alarm in her watch and showed her wrist watch. At the same time, the beeps from the game console stopped. The master said "ok" and started the class. She maintained her cool throughout the class. I was still in fear and didnt follow the class. After the class got over and master went out, I went to her, handed over the game console and thanked her sincerely. I never touched that game console again, but remembered every step of that guy, the snakes, the eagles for years, as it took me to an entirely different world. During my boring train journeys to my native, I wished that I had that video game console, so that I can pass time easily.

When I went to college, there used a section in the library called the CDROM library. I didn't knew the actual purpose of that CDROM library, but I have seen students inserting a CD into that computer and playing games. All the time, students will be playing a particular game, where men with guns will come from the opposite direction, and we have to shoot them. Later I learnt that it was the DOOM game. I tried playing that game once, when after sometime, I felt a severe headache and vomiting sensation, could be because of the quickly changing colors and sounds from the game. I confirmed this, when I got the same symptoms, when i tried to play the same game after a couple of days. I never played that game again in college. So, by God's grace, I developed a natural aversion for video games, which prevented me from getting addicted to video games.

DOOM

When we bought a color TV, I found that there was one option "Game" in its menu. When I tried that option, a game appeared on the screen. Droplets of water will fall from above and there will be a bucket, when we have to move left and right to catch those droplets. With the help of remote, I played this game, whenever I got a chance. In those days, almost all the colour TVs used to have one inbuilt game in it.

I also got a small hand held gaming device which had a couple of games in it. I tried my hands playing a few games in it, among which my favorite was the car game. Once I possessed a computer, I got access to numerous games. The Rash, the Kar, and I played many many games on it. I have killed many boring afternoons with those games. Rash is still my personal favorite, which still runs in my old Desktop computer and I still play it whenever I got a chance. I made numerous attempts to complete the Dave and Mario games in the computers, but I normally gave up after a few levels.

Dave

Mario

As I started possessing mobile phones, I started playing the various games installed in it. Especially I liked the one which came in the base model nokia mobiles.

Vintage Nokia Game

Once I installed a game "Call of Duty", in my new laptop. All the characters and the scenes in the game looked so real that I couldn't consider that as a video game. I disliked that game, and uninstalled it in a few days. I got bored with the video games over time. Thank God, I needn't shell out money on the Xboxes and playstations.

Call Of Duty

As part of my job, I even developed software for the gaming consoles - similar to the consoles in which I played games in the gaming kiosk, some 20 years back.

This wish of mine to pass time in the boring train journeys materialized 20 years later, after I got an Android mobile phone. During my last journey for native to Diwali, I played a game that was somewhat similar to the one I played in that yellow colored game console, some 20 years back.

Note: I invite Dhanesh Amma to write her experiences with the Video Games.
Edit: The post by Dhanesh Amma on Video Games is here.

-SPGR.

Trivandrum Memories (1)

In 2003, from September to November I was in Trivandrum for attending my job training. There are certain periods in our life, that stays fresh in our memory forever. My days in Trivandrum is one such period.
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To Training Center:
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I was staying in Aruvi hotel in Pattom, Trivandrum. On the first day I woke up early in the morning, got ready and came down to the reception. Many were waiting there, since almost everyone staying there were the ones who have come for the training. I was dressed in a light blue coloured format shirt, a dark blue pant, shoes, and tie. All of them were new and I was indeed looking funny. Until the van came I was watching the TV in the reception. A particular song grabbed my attention "karuppin alagu", for which two ladies were dancing - one was Meera Jasmine & the other one I didnt know. She looked pleasant and was younger than Meera Jasmine. Later I got to know that she was Bhavana, who later became famous in Tamil movies.

Around 8 o' clock the van, indeed vans came - they were the old light-green coloured Mahendra vans. We got into them in batches, and started our journey to the training center, which was in Technopark, Attinkuli. It was a ride for about 40 minutes, at the end of which, the van entered into a location, which looked exactly like a Jurassic Park, and we looked like goats taken there to feed some Dinosars there.

[Entry to technopark training center]

The training center was a beautiful white coloured building. As we entered into the building, it had a great grand interior, which I have never seen till that time. There was a big fountain and a waterfall inside the building. We were directed to go to the first floor and were made to sit a big hall there. Shortly afterwards the joining formalities started. We were split into batches, and I belonged to the batch T33.

[Training center in Technopark, Trivandrum]

A couple of people came one after the other, boasted about the company and their experience and position in the company, among whom I now only remember "Alby". She was an young enthusiastic HR there. One of her statement that I still remember now is "You all are away from you home, away from your comfort zones. And some of you might be sad about it. But the growth starts only when you are away from your comfort zones, and slowly things will fade in significance with time."

Instructors came one after the other, repeated almost what others said, and soon we all got bored with them. We were given tokens, which we were supposed to use for the month for tea, coffee & lunch. After the lunch hour, they conducted some games. In some of the games, we have to touch or hold the hands of our neighbours. Whenever there was a female colleague near me, I was embarrassed to hold their hand, but still we have go by the rules of the game and so I obliged.

During my training days, I had a hidden agenda, and as part of the hidden agenda, I tried to come out to make a phone call from a phone booth. In those days mobile phones were a novelty and only very few had them.

The day came to an end at 6, and we all came out, and found the same vans outside, got into them and our return journey started. Morning we were strangers, but now we know each others name. Thanks to those games.

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Evenings:
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Once we reached our hotel, we refreshed and roamed in front of the Aruvi hotel. Just in front of the road is the Pattom main road that leads to the Secretariat on the right and towards Sreekaryam, a shopping area, to its left. I had the habit of taking a long walk in the left till Sreekaryam, which was roughly about 2 kilometers from there. The intent of this long walk is to make a phone call from the phone booth of a grocery shop and to have a tea.

Around 7:30 or 8:00 will start with some of my new friends to the nearby woodlands hotel for dinner. Normally I used to have meals for dinner. Sometimes I went alone. Finding a browsing centre was a Herculean task for me. Finally I found a browsing centre where I used to go at times, for browsing, chatting and emailing.

Once back in room after dinner, will have a chat with other trainees, study for sometime and then sleep. In those days, I didn't have much to study, as during the training we were taught our grand-father's days technologies like C, C++, etc.

Soon it became a routine and I started getting bored with it. I started talking up random long walks to explore the city. Trivandrum was indeed a calm and nice city. I wished that I could come and settle down in this city in the later part of my life, ie. after retirement. But after 3 years, I was about to see another city about 68 kilometers from Trivandrum, which I liked the moment I saw it, mainly because it was very much like Trivandrum in many aspects.

Our training started in the first week of September and went on till the end of November. Diwali came in-between. It was almost military rule there and initially it was declared that there was no leave for Diwali. And we could plan for a visit to native only if were given leave for one more day. Also we should be allowed to leave a bit early on the previous day. Just a couple of days before, we were informed that we will be given leave. Immediately I managed to go the Majestic bus stand and book ticket for me in bus to Trichy for Diwali. And I think I asked Appa to book the return ticket for me in bus. So, all set to go for Diwali.

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Shoppings:
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One evening I was just roaming in front of the hotel, when I was 2 of my lady colleagues in the reception. They were dressed in jeans & tops and appeared to be waiting for someone. I said "hi" to them, while crossing the reception. They smiled and replied. Immediately one of them asked if I could join them for a shopping. I was shocked and taken aback. I never got such an invitation till that point of time in my life. Going for shopping with ladies!!! Never... But it was a boring evening and at that time I was also worried about a couple of personal issues, and so I began to get into a dilemma. But they persuaded me saying that another Guy is also joining us. Then, I decided to join them. It was already around 7 in the evening. I quickly went to my room, got ready, and came back to the reception and we are set to go for the "Diwali shopping".
We came to the main road and went to the MG road. We got down in some place in the MG road. We were new to the city and we didnt know where to go. We just kept walking on the road. It was crowded and both sides of the road was beautifully lit. We saw a shop near the road where almost everyone going in that direction were getting into. Having no agenda in place, we also decided to go into that shop. It was "Parthaas", a textile shop. I had no plans of buying when I entered the shop.

 It was big shop, and not much crowded. They did some shopping and me along with the other Guy followed them wherever they went, without any intent of buying anything. But after sometime I decided to buy dress for parents. So I first went to the saree section and bought a brown coloured saree for Amma. Then I went to the vesti(dhothi) section and bought one vesti for Appa. When I was about to complete the purchase, our lady colleagues saw the saree and they liked it and they too went ahead to that section to buy one for them. They both bought one each. Then we came out the shop. It was around 9:30 PM. We took an auto and went straight to one restaurant in Sreekaryam. On the way they called 2 more colleagues over phone to join us for the dinner. By the time we reached the hotel, those Guys(who were also from our batch) were waiting for us. We had a good dinner there and after that I back to my hotel by walk and they went in auto to their hotel. On the way had tea in a roadside tea shop and I enjoyed that late night walk.

On one evening I went to a shopping complex in Sreekaryam, where I like doing window shopping. There I bought some books for my sisters. Other than that, I enjoyed doing window shopping in almost all the shops in that complex. Hoping to go for such a shopping again in that complex.

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Money:

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One day during the training hours, we all were called to meet the HR. I went with my roommate to meet the HR. The HR’s bay was crowded and many were waiting to meet him. Later got to know that the HR is collecting our details, for opening the bank account where salary will be deposited. I go thrilled. In those days I have heard about the ATM cards, but never had one. He took my details like name, address, and collected 2 photographs, one of which will be used to print my photo in the ATM card.

We received the ATM card, check book and other related documents after 2 days. I was thrilled to see the ATM card. We were instructed to use the card after 24 hours, since it will be activated after 24 hours. But we actually had to wait for 3 days, since our salary will be deposited after 3 days. Till that time, we had nothing to do with the ATM card.

One evening when I was returning after dinner from the woodlands hotel, I found many of my batch-mates going out in groups. Almost everyone was going out at that time. It was around 9:30 and normally at that time the roads will be almost deserted. Got to know that salary was deposited and everyone was going to the UTI bank (now Axis bank) ATM machine to withdraw money. I had just Rs. 300 in hand, which was sufficient for 3 more days. And I was planning to ask Appa to send in money if salary is not credited in 3 days.

I also started walking in the direction where others went, as I didn't know where the UTI ATM was. After walking for about 15 minutes, we reached the building where the ATM machine was. There was a small crowd in front of it. My batchmates went in one by one and we didn’t know how to operate it. The security was inside the ATM and he was helping them in using the card in the ATM. I think almost all first times learns using the ATM from the ATM security.

When my turn came, I went inside. My ATM card is still stuck on the paper, in the same position in which it was given to me. I took out the card and gave it to him. He was so friendly and helped me in changing the PIN, and then I think I withdrew Rs. 300, it gave money and the slip. I retained that slip with me for many many years, until I eventually lost it. The account is not active now, but I still have that first ATM card with me, with my photo on it.

My expenses were very less compared to my other new friends there. But I was spending considerable amounts on phone, since STD calls were costly those days.

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Food:

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Food items in hotels weren’t much costly in those days. Once I got used to the place, I starting trying out in different hotels, ate different varieties of food. I couldn’t recall the names of those dishes now, but would like to eat them again. Later I got an opportunity to taste those items again in Nagerkoil, after my marriage, no wonder that I liked those dishes like anything.

A new veg hotel by name “Saradha” was opened near the hotel that we stayed. As inaugural offer, they gave items at half the price. We all shifted immediately from Woodlands to that hotel. We had good meals at tiffin items at very low price. The quality and taste were very good. I tried many different items. September was the month of Purattasi. So, I was a strick vegetarian during that month. Once the day Purattasi got over, I started roaming even more for food. I walked to very long distances and had many varieties of non-veg dishes. This partly would be the reason for many intestinal dis-orders I got later in my life. I like parotta with chicken curry a lot.

Excatly 50% of my stay was at Aruvi hotel, ie. Till Diwali. After returning from Diwali, we all were moved to a much bigger three star hotel near the Training center in Attinkuli. This place is outside the main city and near the Technopark. The hotel was a three star hotel, but outside of it, there were no facilities. Even for making a phone call I have to go for a long distance and at times I took an auto for reaching a phone booth. Getting good food was

Will continue in Trivandrum Memories (2)...

- SPGR.

The Educationist

For some strange reasons, I was not getting sleep during those days. All night I used to just lie on the bed, closing the eyes, but not sleeping. Sometimes I used to get up from the bed and walk here and there inside the home. As this continued day by day, I started looking very tired and dull during the day time, and people around me started commenting that I look dull and also started inquiring whether I am not well. I tried many things to get sleep. First I started watching TV. That was the time of IPLs. After 20 years I started watching cricket again in my life, just to kill time. On the first day when I switched on TV to watch cricket, it was a person called "Shikar Dawan" who was batting in a wonderful way. Then I moved on to watching movies, cartoons and what not. But the end was not reached. Even after watching TV till 4 am or 5 am in the morning I was not getting sleep, but only short naps for an hour or so.

 Then I moved on to do some physical work - like cleaning home, washing clothes, cooking. All these tasks made me more tired, but I was nowhere near my goal. I even tried going for a walk and jog. Nothing helped.
During that time, I happened to travel in Pallavan Express from Trichy to Chennai in 3rd AC coach. I think that was my first trip in the AC coach of Pallavan Express. The train was at 6:30 in the morning. As usual, after a sleepless night, I reached the station on time and had just enough time to get into the train. I was just gazing through the window when a person called me from behind  "Sir, is that your seat...".

I turned back and saw a calm and quiet person, should be in the late forties or early fifties, very neatly dressed, with a beautiful smile. His face had a divine charm.
"No, sorry, this is not my seat...", I said as window seat was not mine.
He replied "Sir, it is my seat, but if you want, you can continue to be there and I will take your seat"
Normally, like many, I prefer to have the window seat, but upon seeing his face, I said "No, thank you..." and moved to my seat.
He occupied his seat and was continuously getting phone calls, in which he was talking about some churches and brothers in those churches. I thought he himself could be one such brother.


As the train started, he asked whether I am into business. This is the second time I am encountering this question. First time I encountered this question was again when I was traveling in the AC coach of Rockfort express, which made me to assume that, it is mostly the businessmen, who travel in the AC coaches.
I replied "No, I am not into business..."
"Then... you are..." he asked.
"I am into software... I develop software..."
"Oh Ok..."
"To Chennai...", he enquired
"Yes...", I replied.

Then I got into some deep thoughts. But, I thought that I should ask him what he is doing, though normally I never ask anyone any such questions.
"And you..."
"I am an educationist...", he replied.
I didn't know exactly what he was meaning by that. I thought he should be a lecturer or a professor in some college.
"In which college Sir...", I asked. I started addressing him as "Sir" in somewhat a respectful way now.
"Not college... school... I am headmaster of (he said some school's name, which I forgot now) in Royapettah."
It sounded to be a famous school in that area. Having faced a lot of difficulty in putting my dear little friend Dhanu into school, some 2 years ago, I thought I should get to know more about him and interact well with him, so that in future, I can put my cute little friend Deepu into some good school, with his recommendation. But at the same time, I was so doubtful whether I can do that in the short train journey of 5 hours.
"Nowadays almost all are into software..." he remarked.
"Yes Sir... most of the service companies has established processes, and now software can be developed, even without any knowledge of data structures or algorithms..."
He seemed to have got more interested into it and started asking me more and more questions and I tried to answer as much as I could.
Finally he remarked... "Whatever it is... it is indeed a good field, that provides jobs to many and almost eradicated the unemployment, which was in its peak in the 90s..."
"What you do in your school sir... I mean what are your day to day activities in school..." I asked him.
He seemed to have got interested in this question and started answering in an elaborate way.

"Morning I go to school about 8:30, attend the prayer and then around 10:00 will go for rounds all around the school..." and then he went on to explain his day to day activities.
"One of my main activity is to constantly watch the mood and enthusiasm of the teachers and whenever I find that they are not enthusiastic or happy, its my duty to help them in getting their worries resolved and bring them back to normal... Because if they are not happy, they cannot do their job well... and it will directly affect the students..."

He continued "One day while on the rounds, I found the one teacher had a very sad face... It was like as if it is written in his face that he is having a miserable life..."
He went on... "I asked him what his problem is... He immediately started crying, unmindful of the students in front of him... I took him aside and asked him again what his problem is..."
"From what he said, I understood that his personal life is miserable. He is married for about 10 years... has 2 kids... and now have almost come to the stage that he cannot live with his wife anymore, who was a teacher in another school... and the only way to spend the rest of his is to get separated from her... I found that day by day, he was having a miserable and painful life in home... In that situation, definitely he cannot do a good job in school..."
He added... "By this time, we both started walking and came to the main gate of the school... The gate was locked... There was a road in front of the school's gate and at the other end of the road, there was a ditch in which dirty water was running... We both saw a man, wearing dirty clothes-that looked as if it was never washed, his hair-looked as if it was never combed... He was holding a small stick in his hand and was standing on the shore of the ditch and was playing by hitting the stick on that running water..."
He went on... "I asked the teacher, do you know why he is so happy now... The teacher looked at my face, confused... He is happy because he had a good meal in the morning... and he is celebrating it by playing in that dirty water... though he knows very well that his next meal is not guaranteed..."
"But see... In your case, you both are working as respectful teachers, and the meal for you and your family is guaranteed for the next thirty years... But still you don't know how to celebrate it... And instead you are worrying about it..."
"She is your wife... Who else will fight with you.... She bore your 2 kids... Go home right now, ask her also to come home... talk to her... tell her that you want to celebrate your life day-by-day, with her..."
"He left the school immediately and came to school after 2 days and this time he was happy... I never asked him what happened in home, but I was sure that he will be a good teacher after that, celebrating his life in school too..."

The educationist went on and on. After a long time, I was hearing a monotonous speech, more or less a lecture... I started dozing... as I used to do on hearing the lectures in college and I was finding it tough to keep myself awake ...

But I tried my best to keep myself awake, just to listen to what he said.

 He went on... "See the Russia... most of the time it is cold there... covered everywhere with snow... But see India... where we have sun almost all the days..."

I was wondering why he is comparing India with Russia, when generally India is compared with the US these days. I assumed that he should belong to the previous generation. As far as I know during the British rule, India was compared with Britan, even Gandhi went there for his higher studies... But I am not sure whether Gandhi attempted and cleared GRE or TOFFEL to reach there. And for a couple of years after independance, India was compared with Russia... and in the recent days India is compared with America.I guess the "Sir" should have been an child or young boy during the days of comparison with Russia, as one tends to remember their childhood days for the rest of their life.

He continued "There people cannot work on the field(probably he is referring to agriculture). But see our gifted climate, where we can work round the year... But how we waste our time and energy on useless things, fighting with each other..."

After that I didn't know when I slept. I had a sound sleep, after a long time. I dint know for how long he kept talking. But when I woke up, I found that he was also asleep. I also observed that in every station, he got down from the coach, and met his old students in the platform. Upon knowing that he was traveling in this train, many of his old students had come to the station in that odd hour to meet their teacher. He should be a famous teacher, and should be a role model for many, I thought.


As the train entered Egmore station, we got ready to get down.
I thanked him, for which he returned a beautiful smile, and came out of the station. He was received by a couple of people at the platform. I started walking towards the bus stop to take a bus to home.

After that I never had a sleepless night, probably because I have decided to celebrate my life, day-by-day... Thank You Sir...

- Pavala.

My Experiments with Dancing

Though even in school days I have witnessed many dance events in the Annual day functions, they didn't attract me much. But when I was studying UG in PSG Tech, Coimbatore,  there used to be a function called Calypso, an inter-college meet of all PSG Group of institutions. There I saw a groups of Girls from PSG CAS and GRG dancing on the stage. That was a well-rehearsed, practiced stage show.
Still that was interesting. On seeing that I used to feel that someday I too should dance like that. But I know very well that I may not get a chance to dance on the stage.

Driven by the desire to dance (or) to learn dancing, I used to try some little steps in my hostel room, seeing which at times my roommate used to laugh. But within a few days this landed me in a trouble. One day I was sleeping and it was around 11:30 in the night. My roommate woke me up...
"Pavala... Pavala... Wake-up... Wake-Up..."
"What da..."
"Our seniors asked me to bring you..."
"For what..."
"They got a  chance to participate in tomorrow's event... They got 10 minutes, and they can do whatever they want in that 10 minutes..."
"And why they want me to come..."
"They are going to dance and they want someone to teach them..."
"Ohhhh... And who told that I can dance???"
"Me..."
"Deiiiii... I cant dance da... I dont know how to dance..."
"Dont worry... Just teach them what you know..."
"I know nothing..."


It became clear that now there is no point in arguing with  him. As you know during college days seniors are demi-Gods. I woke up and we both went to their room in the B Block. Once I entered their room, I found a huge crowd, roughly of about 30 people waiting for me. A senior, who is known to terrorize his juniors was summoned to explain me what I am supposed to do. I told him that I cant dance... I dont know how to dance... At once he changed his tone and started threatening me... Some others started convincing me... And finally almost all of them started pleading to teach them whatever I know... I was giving different reasons that I could not dance, and this went on for about 40 minutes... After 40 minutes it became clear to me that I cant go back to my room, without dancing and without teaching them something...

They played the song. It was some English song, which I didnt know. With no other option, I  had to jump into action. I heard the song once, asked them to play it again... and started dancing... Keeping my legs in "Stand At Ease" position, I moved two steps to the left, then two steps to the right and again two steps to the left, two steps to the right, then turned sidewards and spread my arms horizontally... It seemed that they got impressed... And I had to do the same steps again and again for the next 30 minutes,  until they learnt it. Eight Guys stood in two rows of four each, and they kept practicing. In the mean time they found out another Guy from some other department and brought him there. Then we both worked together until 3:30 in the morning. My primary job being learning the steps from  him and repeating it again and again until our seniors picked it up... In the mean time I started enjoying this work... The practice sessions went on in the next day afternoon too...

Next day evening the function started, and I was anxiously waiting for my seniors to arrive on the stage. After a very long time, towards the end of the event, they appeared. The stupid announcer, announced in the mike that that was the last performance for the day. Half of the crowd dissolved on hearing that. They stood in two rows of four each... the music started playing... and they started moving two steps to the left, two steps to the right... exactly in the same way I did on the previous night... and when they turned and spread their arms... almost all of the audience dissolved and dis-appeared... Only a handful of people were left... Though the steps were funny, it still made me happy... may be, because of the joy of creation... I and the primary choreographer stayed back till they completed... clapped and then we too went to room back...

Then while doing PG in NIT, Trichy, there used to be a function called "Version" in our department. In that some were given chance to dance on the stage during dance events... We Guys used to take this chance and dance, in the front, right below the stage, exactly imitating the steps on the stage... And this imitation and dancing reaches its peak when gang of girls dance of the stage... Due to this type of training, now it is very easy for me to learn and imitate the girls steps...

Then I joined for work. My first company was TCS, training in Trivandrum Technopark. Just one week before the training was about to get over, my batchmates arranged for a party and a get together. There they had arranged something close to a DJ party... In a big hall, with fancy lights & loud music, people started dancing... I was entirely new to that type of situation and I kept on watching... After a long time, with lots of hesitation, I too entered, by which time almost all had stopped and only a few were dancing... I started dancing and in order to encourage me, my colleague Gurleen Chawla, just came in front of me and accompanied me in the dance... I was sort of embarrassed, and tried to stop and go out.. But she kept dancing according to my steps and I too continued and this went on for more than 15 minutes... Right at that moment, my another colleague, who was carrying a camera, caught that moment in a flash(pun intented :-)...)... Finally we both were the only ones dancing and all were watching... When we stopped there was a huge round of applause for us :-)...

Then at work, I never got a chance again and I almost forgot about dancing, until one day a DJ party was announced in my third company iGATE. That was sometime in May 2012. I went there 30 minutes after the party started and was just watching it... But after sometime after hearing the loud music and the fancy light, I couldnt resist and just jumped into the dance floor... It was there that I rediscovered my hobby again... I thought of going out in 10 minutes... But I stayed back... and tried to dance till the end of the party... But only a very few were dancing and there was no much audience... I enjoyed that day...

A sample clip for your view... :-)...

 
Then again another DJ party announced in office in Nov 2012... Finally that became one of the most memorable day of my life, which I will explain in a separate post... 

- Pavala.

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Tirumalai @ Trivandrum

It was in 2003 when I was attending training as a fresher in Trivandrum that Vijay's Tirumalai got released. I was new to Kerala, home-sick, pulled our of my comfort zone and trying to get adapted to the new environment and life-style. We all trainees were staying in a hotel called Aruvi, in Pattom, Trivandrum.

[Hotel Aruvi(Aruvi Tourist home), Pattom, Trivandrum]

In the picture above, the gate on the extreme left is the hotel's main gate. Now a security is found sitting there, in those days there was no such security. The door next to it is a phone booth, run by the same Hotel Aruvi. In this phone booth, I had spent long hours, both for calling home and also for a hidden agenda :-). And next to it is Woolands hotel, where we used to have our food.

On a weekend, on one afternoon, I decided to watch a movie in theatre. Among the movies running there at that time, I decided to go for Vijay's movie Thirumalai. In those days, I like to watch watch Vijay's movies in theatres, mainly for the fast songs and the accompanying dance sequences.

I got ready, went to the bus stop nearby Aruvi hotel and got into the town bus that goes to the bus stand. In the bus stand I didnt know where to go or how to reach the theatre. I didnt even know in which theatre the mvoie was put up. I was heading for the morning 11:30 show. I found an auto outside the bus stand and told the auto Chetan about my situation. He at once jumped into action. He took a newspaper, that he had kept by inserting between the auto's iron frame and the auto's rexin roof. He turned the pages, saw the advertisement of movies released in theatres, located Thirumalai and found that it was put up in the Ajantha theatre. And he drove fast to that theatre as the time was already 11:25.

 [Ajantha Theatre, Trivandrum]

The auto reached the theatre at 11:35(five minutes late). Paid and thanked the Chetan, and ran to the counter. The person at the counter said that only Rs. 12 ticket was available. I didnt mind it, as my only intention at that time was to somehow enter the theatre. I got the ticket, ran to the hall and entered the auditorium. The movie was already put up and I just stood at the gate after entering, since the hall was so dark and I couldnt see anything clearly. Then after getting some visibility of the path, slowly went inside and sat in the seat number mentioned in my ticket. That was the first row in the theatre and it was very close the screen. I had to lift my head up to see the screen and turn my head left and right, if I had to watch the individual characters on the screen. Intially, it appeared to be a nuisance, but once I started involving in the movie, I became ok. I also convinced myself that since I am in the first row, I am seeing the movie before everyone else in the hall, however fast the light travels :-). Exactly after I sat, the song "Vaadi Amma Jakkamma" started. So fast movements, fast music and I was satisfied that it was worth coming all the way from Pattom.

The movie had a boring story, with boring twists and turns. Still I enjoyed and watched the movie :-). Had pop-corn in the interval. After the movie was over, walked back to bus-stand. On the way, found a mid-sized hotel and had meals. The first question they ask in the hotel is "White rice?". I know that there is another kind of rice there - brown rice, a little bit big in size, which gives the feeling of chewing a bubble gum for those who are not used to it and hence difficult to swallow. Had a good lunch with all types of non-veg curries, chicken side-dish. From the bus stand got a bus and reached Pattom back.

- Pavala.