One Step Ahead, Always!!!

Island (Bangalore - Kanyakumari) express entered the Bangalore central station at around 4:30am in the morning. It was a cool morning in the early December in 1998. I was travelling from home to join Wipro Infotech, a job I secured through campus interviews in IIT Madras. Without taking my luggage out, I got down and looked around for Prince bhai. He was supposed to receive me and I will be staying with him and Varghese Panikker for some time in HAL 3rd Stage. I acted easy as if I am not new to the place just to fool the porters and thieves. I had heard stories and was not very happy with it. Every single one from the train had left the station. I searched him along the full stretch of the platform. No signs at all. It was still dark outside and the cold was getting inside. Was there a miscommunication? I traced phone calls in mind and was pretty sure that it was this day that I am supposed to be in B'lore. There can't be a mistake. Something would have happened to him on the way? He had to leave town for some emergency which he could not communicate? What to do? Mobiles were not popular. There were no phone numbers to call early in the morning. The station and the place looked like a totally new world. No sense of direction. I thought about the emails exchanged and it suddenly struck me that I have a way out. I went inside the train again and took out a folded paper from the side zipper of a carry bag. It was the printout of an email that read almost similar to what is given below. As can be seen, it was from a true friend who goes that extra step ahead always when it matters.

"Dear Manthru: Welcome to Bangalore. Although I know that you will be staying with Prince and that you do not want to disturb me to receive you, even after I promised the same, I think that you should keep the following information handy in case of an emergency. I am staying in an apartment in Tippasandra, the address of which is given below. It will be x kilometers from the main railway station and y kilometers if you are getting down in Cantonment station. The rickshaw charges will be roughly this much although they might ask you for double or even triple. Make sure that you bargain the price before getting in. Be alert and act as if you know the place. There are these and these landmarks, depending on your travel, on the way and when you reach Tippasandra main junction, you will have to take a left. In just 100-200 meters you will see a water tap, you may not get water of course, and see an apartment with a balcony and stairs on your left. The entrance to the apartment is ..... and the door will look like ........" The message went on for two pages with detailed descriptions of how to reach his apartment. It was a message from a friend who could foresee issues that I might face and willing to spend some time so that I would be in a better position. Name of that friend is Rajeev Gopalakrishnan (Rajeev G. for short). The mail saved me on that day and I did not have any problems in reaching him on that morning. Surprisingly he was expecting me. We had breakfast and contacted Prince bhai who had returned from the railway station. He was late because there were no buses to reach the station that early.

I was supposed to join the next day. It was my first job. First time in Bangalore. I wanted to go from Tippasandra to Mission road where my office was. Rajeev stepped in as he knew the place very well and so decided to give me a live demonstration of how to reach the place. He was also working in the same company but in a different department. We went in a bus and on the way I learned the name of stops, exact amount for the trip, a bit of Kannada that the bus conductors will use to request passengers to move inside (it sounded Ulagada Pani and in Malayalam it might pass for Move You PIG!).I did not ask but he kept on teaching me as if I am going for an exam the next day. He wanted me to know everything before I move on alone in the mad rush of Bangalore city. Finally we got down in a stop and pointing to a big building he told me: "See! That is the famous Mallya hospital. I wanted you to see it. Mallya, you know? Kalyani (Or King Fisher?) Beer? Okay! You got it. Now this is not the stop you will be getting down tomorrow when you go to office. Actually you have to get down in the previous stop. We got down here because I want you to see another route to your office in case you miss that actual busstop. Don't worry. When we come back, we will use the other route." How many friends do you have who will care you this way? Rajeev is special and he has a special way to treat his friends.

In IIT itself, we had found out that our wavelengths were same. We were there to represent our respective hostels, cross borders to join other hostel members on their tour trips, to arrange the screening of malayalam movies, to go for movies outside IIT, to explore Parris (a place in walking distance from Madras main railway station) for bargains, to walk along streets commenting on the huge cutouts of Tamil movie heroes (not many heroines) and probably the same tastes on commenting the women occasionally. We married during the same time period (almost) and both of us have a cute daughter each to speak of. We explored Poondy bazaar of T.Nagar, subway system on the entire stretch of Guindy to Madras station, Vadapalani and Anna Nagar. We sat together with the entire gang of Tapti at the open air theatre on every possible occasion, generally on all saturdays, and created every opportunity to make others laugh. So it was almost natural that both of us decided to leave existing room mates to find out another apartment for ourselves. Rajeev has a habit of reading the advertisements and with a budget and correct requirements, thanks to him again, we searched the breadth and depth of Bangalore. We were promised a good two bedroom apartment in Domlur by one gentle man and later he said sorry to leave us with a cramped apartment in Vivek Nagar. We had to live there till we got our advance payment back. I got one more person, again working with Wipro, to share the apartment. He was my BTech classmate and his name was Ansar. Rumour is that Ansar and myself had woken up early to take bath and get ready even before Rajeev to go and see his would-be wife for the very first time.

There is a saying: "You can't choose your parents, but you can choose your friends". Everybody has friends. But there are few who would go that extra step ahead to care for you. To take the effort and pain to spend some time willingly. And more importantly, not expecting anything in return. Rajeev is one of them. I am glad that I am one of the many who can claim him as a true friend. An hour and plus long conversation recently with an old school mate of Rajeev brought out some interesting characteristics of the training in Sainik school in Kazhakkoottam and I now believe that there are some true qualities that is inherited from that curriculam.

(L)earning Points...

US is providing enough opportunities for me to learn. I have started to talk in terms of MILES, FAHRENHEIT, GALLONS and POUNDS instead of kilometers, celsius, litres and kilograms (conversion factors are not always greater than one). I drive on the right hand side of the road (yielding and stopping at times), turn the key right or clockwise to unlock, tap the switches up for light and say "How r u DOING" at every opporuntity that is presented. I have a readymade "You Too" that is in bulk stock so that I might use it (automatically) for a "Talk to You Later" also. There are too many of "Have a Nice Weekend"s that I can't spend. In restaurants or fast food counters, either I have "To Stay" or I will GO. I spend irrespective of whether it is CREDIT or DEBIT. I don't expect to see a petrol pump in US. Instead I see a lot of GAS STATIONs. There are UTILITY BILLS that I have to pay every month and my statements come electronically without a BUCK spent. Trust if I tell you that I don't have a single BILL in my valet. There are enough theft these days even though the streets are crowded with COPs.

The sticker on the electric appliance reads 110V instead of 220V and the plug points are installed such that two pins go to the top and they are not round instead rectangular in shape. On my electricity bill, I get start reading from the time previous tenant left and the MISTAKE is so obvious for the attendant to correct on my first call. If I don't, I get charged for what I did not use. A win win situation for the energy provider as there are not many who cares to call. The price tag in the textiles shop reads $3.99 in big letters and UP in small letters. I take a hat and get screwed as I do not notice the price ($12.99) on the electronic billing machine, I believe that computers cannot make mistakes, at the counter.

At the grocery shop, where the invoice only prints GROCERY against each item, I casually ask how much the packet of frozen vegetables cost and the lady says $1.99. On a second thought, before entering the price, she asks the next salesperson about the price and he says it costs only 99 cents. When I stand amused expecting more suprises, I see a lady bargaining for a free juice for the entire grocery she had bought. I rush for a sale to buy something with a RESTRICTED return policy that I don't realize in advance. Offers galore for mobile connections with JUST $35.99 per month*. What I do not read is the * sign and the conditions (of course in small letters) that state it is only for the first 3 months and with a two year contract. I wake up from the dream with a phone bill on my face that reads $75.99 including tax, surcharge, activation charge, line charge, carrier charge etc. A list of charges starting with each letter in English. Thank God, there are only twenty six.

One cent, which is 100th of a dollar, is called a penny and 5 cents will make it a nickel when ten of it is called a dime. 25 cents is a quarter and is used to park vehicles for 30 minutes. I had seen a 50cents coin recently and saved it as it is not in great circulation. With that kind of money, I can stand in the LINE to CATCH the bus or hire a CAB to reach my destination. Don't ask me whether I am SINGLE or MARRIED. There are other categories as well. SINGLE DIVORCED in case you are curious. Never use the word husband or wife. Use SPOUSE as marriages are allowed between same sex with GAY and LESBIAN unions fighting for rights. States who permitted same sex marriages are already into changing the law again to include divorce among same sex marriages.

Somebody out there is my friend or relative. At least he is my wellwisher as I can see his mails in my mail box regularly. He wants me to have a credit card that offers 0%APR (annual percentage rate, a measure of SOME of the total yearly expense). I feel so good about having somebody here in US to care for me, old BUDDIES sometimes remain OLD, and fill the application in excitement of having one more card to shine in my valet. I forget to turn the page where the charges are mentioned neatly in a table that reads membership fee, late fee, cash withdrawal fee, second year onwards APR of 18.99% etc. My alter ego comes up and laughs at me and we engage in the following conversation.

"Don't laugh at me. I am earning points that I can redeem."
"Really? How much have you earned so far?"
"A couple of thousands!"
"How much did you spend to get that many points?"
"May be 3 times of dollar amount".
"What would you get with that many points?"
"A mouth wash or most probably a roll of toilet tissue".
"Good enough! Get going and have a nice sleep!"

Hat trick

At least for the time being, cricket has nothing to do with what I am going to write. I have nothing against cricket and if I had taken one hour off the time I had spent for watching cricket on all days for something useful.... what? Nothing! Probably I would be myself the same way I am now. Meaning it would not have made much difference :-) Sounds interesting?

Kerala Kala Samithi, a group of faculty, workers and students who have not forgot their love for togetherness, of IIT Madras (Chennai) used to spend creative time to bring quality hours of entertainment, traditional as well as modern, mainly to get over with the nostalgic feelings of being outside the state. During times of Vishu (April) and Onam (Aug-Sept), it provided a great opportunity for many to show their hidden talents and also to be away from the monotonous nature of research or work. I have been fortunate enough to represent Brahmaputra hostel for almost three years during my stint in IIT as a MS research scholar at the computer science department.

There were great occasions where arrangement of floral decorations, food or entertainment programmes were accepted with ardent heart. I had written, directed and performed three skits in each year with the help of enthusiastic friends and each time I realised the pleasure and pressure of creation. Is it that much to be talked about? Well! Creation always is! Doesn't matter who, what and when! Though the skits were a maximum of 15-20 minutes long, there was a good amount of effort that had put behind to bring it on stage. Let me write about that hat trick and the memorable moments.

Ammayiyammapporu

This was the first skit performed during the Onam celebrations in 1996 and was a remake of the prize winning skit of 1995 from Govt. Engineering College, Thrissur. More on the same can be read from another story (Skits and Hits) but this one too had its share of memories that I would keep for years. The cast, other than myself, was Santhosh (Mala), one of my two year seniors in Thrissur, and Rajeev G (pronounced ji with respect), both from Tapti hostel. I was a regular visitor of Tapti hostel and malayalees in that hostel had little apprehension to accept me as one of them. I am thankful to them for that. Now and then. Rajeev was in the role of my son and Santhosh was acting as his wife where as I was playing the role of mother or mother-in-law (see! it is the same depending on the perspective), the same role I played a year back. As expected, the skit went on to receive good applause from the crowd but there was another memorable incident that happened in between.

There used to be a scene where the mother (or mother-in-law), played my me, slaps the daughter-in-law, frustrated by the indifferent and dominating attitude showed by her son's wife. Santhosh bhai was supposed to turn his face to reduce the effect of getting actually hit, Rajeev who was supposed to be off the scene was to make a sound using his hands to make the audience hear the sound of the slap and I was to only brace him gently still making it feel like a slap. The electric atmosphere of the theatre, the heat of the climax, the excitement of bringing to life a prize winning skit on another stage, being involved in the scene, a lack of timing. I could not know which of it actually attributed as I was running for cover after the skit. I only knew one thing. Santhosh bhai's face was red with an award winning performance.

Kalyanasougandhikam

Boosted by the success of first year's skit, in 1997, I started to work on a script that had been in mind for years. This time there were a lot of new comers in the hostel and I did not have to cross the border to reach Tapti hostel for getting actors. Also the previous years experience would be in their mind and I was afraid too. The script was based on the epic Mahabharata and the plot was Bheeman, the second (actually third) of the Pandavas, going in search of the sougandikam, a rare flower, at the request of his wife Paanjali or Droupadi and on the way having an encounter with his half-brother Hanuman. Sri Hanuman is the only character who appears in both the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. Bheeman, truly, is a character at loss most of the time, depicted by well known novelists in Malayalam. Some references can be Randamoozham and Ini Njan Urangatte. His wife, being the wife of all his brothers too, was effectively utilising or avoiding him.

The risks of getting the flower was high, the consequences not worth the effort. Still for the sake of love or expectation of possible love, Bheeman went on to meet his destiny, the meeting with his half-brother. I always wondered what they could have possibly talked about. The epic has its own version, but the situation might probe the imagination of many. Vyasa, the author of Mahabharata, had made it to teach Bheeman a lesson by making Hanuman an old and diseased monkey who could not move out of the way. Ideas were pouring, but nothing came strongly to the script and I had to admit that the script needed to accept contributions from Eldo Mathew, who went on to play Panjali, and Praveen Krishna, who played Hanuman. Their suggestion of both characters getting signals, of common origin, from their yawns reminded me of old movies where keys and locks or soap box and covers used to make heroes getting united in the climax scenes. The skit ran on that trick alone. Hanuman in the end makes a statement. "Bheema, my dear brother, you go on to get the flower, useless it may be, ultimately it might reduce the bad smell off your wife's hair!". He, and so I, meant a lot. For those who can think. At least, I wanted to make a point. Are all our goals worth the effort?

IITyil Oru Pranayakalathu...

"After the stupendous success of two skits in the previous years, here comes another presumptous one from Brahmaputra", announcement came in fluent Malayalam, I am taking the liberty to translate it, from Narayanan bhai (who is an assistant professor of Clarkson University now) who was the coordinator of Onam entertainment programmes in 1998. I am leaving it to him to correct my translation as he is too good in the vocabulary and use of English language. It was his constant pressure that made me to come out of my shell; I had kept myself away from movies, Tapti evenings, outings to concentrate on my research during the final eight months; and sleep over a script that was going to be my last in IIT.

Since I was in a love affair during that time, which culminated in my marriage with the same woman, I wanted to talk something about love. There was a skit that was getting rehearsed under the able leadership of Abhilash and Rajeev in Tapti hostel. As a special case, they had even promised a role in that skit but I could not digest some dialogues that were directed towards women and pulled out to make my own. Expectedly, their skit went on to star most Taptians and was applauded as well. The theme was good but I had differences only with the dialogues. India is a democratic country and it gives the citizens freedom of expression. I told Rajeev that we will agree to disagree.

I played a double role (all dreams coming true, at least before a small group) as that of the God of IITs temple and that of Enasu, a typical grocery store owner of Thrissur town. The connection is not clear but my intention was to say that nothing is impossible for the Almighty and he can come in any shape he wishes to. It was not Enasu or the priest of the temple, played by Praveen Krishna, who went on to make headlines. It was Narayanan Kutti who played the role of a mentally retarded shop employee who stole the thunder. The skit talked about increasing romances around temples and the God himself getting restless nights. It mentioned the lack of dedication from priests in temples these days. The skit reaches its climax with Enasu giving an advice to the priest, who went to meet him at the command of the God, that only marriages can bring an end to the current trend and that alone will teach a lesson to the dating couple.

Winter Quote

After the fall season, it's winter time in NY. The city witnessed the first snow of the season few days back. Trees that were boasting of the unbelievable mix of fall colours had to shed the leaves long back and surrendered meekly to wear the white beard of snow. Fortunately for them all is not lost as the occasional sunshine brings old glory back through rainbow colours. The last time I have seen this much white in abundance is at home with the milk pot straight from the cattle shed. Well, I can also talk about the Alps view from the Swiss flight en route to Montreal via Zurich, but talking about home makes me feel better. Trivial and close issues that we are confronted with more often.

The worst summer in NY might feel like the best winter time in Dubai or Chennai. The highest during these initial days of winter is 45. Didn't I say that it is in fahrenheit? Everybody is wrapped in long woolen coats with multiple layers of protection underneath and miniature versions of the dome of some Italian cathedral to cover the head and ears. Still I can see a lot of them with minimum dress, but mostly in posters. My sympathy goes to them. The same sympthy I felt towards their counterparts in Dubai in the scorching heat where I thought the ad must have shot in the north pole. The world police, US with their mission in middle east, seems to have found out this disparity well before me. With laws that do not require minors to inform parents before abortion and mandatory blood tests before registering dating sites, in a system that accepts children as mature right after birth, think about the prospects of having one line removed from the application forms. The place where the name of father is asked.

Baby's Day Out

Hi all. My name is Minnu and I am turning three on 8th of December 2005. Actually my name is Sruthi Lakshmi Suresh (Whoah! What a long name?) and my parents must have found by now that it won't work in the long run. I am the (un)fortunate and only daughter of the working couple, Suresh and Sindhu. Well, to be honest, my mother is not working. She is doing her PhD in one of the universities in New York, a dream destination of many around the world (I have to figure out the reason!). My father is a software engineer (even now?) but says he is working for a bank. So should I believe him? I have to get along with him more to learn more as I have been deprived of his presence in the past due to circumstances that were beyond my control (and his too). I have always been with my mom as my dad was working abroad and my mom did not want to get rid of her job at home (my dad supported it too). Honestly, I have been with my grand parents as my mom was away at work till evening most of the days of the week. I have only shades of memory about grand parents from my father's side and his relatives. Those counting me as the luckiest must be sick to say so. I wish they knew! One of my friend is telling me that his mother is planning to work or do higher studies and I wish good luck. I swear, it is by no means easy!

These days I wake up at 4AM just because of an alarm my mom has kept for an early reading as part of her PhD. As I embrace sleep again, another alarm sounds at 4:30AM which is set up in case the 4AM alarm is missed. By this time my mom is already in front of the computer and her books. So I turn to my dad who is struggling to go back to his sleep. I am disturbed in the middle of a good (or was it bad?) dream by a 6AM alarm. Time for my dad to get up and go to office. Why is he still sleeping? I am sure that he must have another alarm set up for 6:30AM. Are my parents crazy? Can't they just keep one alarm and get up at the first sound of it? Okay! What is my dad doing now? He is placing the blankets and pillows so that I will be protected from cold and a possible fall from the bed. So nice of him. But sorry dad, I am not sleeping.

Now there is a marathon I am going to witness with all fighting for the only toilet. Isn't it bad luck that my parents have a beautiful home back there with four toilets inside and one outside (specially made with old fashion)? What are they up to? What is that spear my mom holding? Oh! It's my tooth brush. She surely is bringing to me. Now you are going to witness my tricks and how I am going to avoid this one today. She surely has her own up her sleeves, but man believe me, they do not work any more. She admits her surrender and is now asking dad for help. Does he has time? If yes, I am doomed. Otherwise I would survive for this day. Isn't it cruel that 3 year olds have to go through all these twice a day? My parents talk about worms and bad smell but I don't feel anything. They are so tricky, you know! What about a biscuit straight from the bed? Yummy!

Good that I learned some English (I agree that I use some of my mother tongue for words I do not know, but you know that I am not Shakespeare) after landing in US. I am now at ease going to school where Grace (they say she is black and I don't see that!), Maya (it certainly doesn't sound like the name of a spanish kid), Alan (there you are!), Stefany (my parents pronounce it Stefaaaaaany where the correct one is SteFFany) and a good set of others will be waiting. With eating, playing and learning, it is good fun! Who is crying to go to school? Shame on you! Okay! okay! I do but that is because I feel bad when my mom leaves me in the morning. But can't you see that I am alright after 5 minutes? In the next few hours my home will be empty. I will wait for my dad to come at 6pm in the evening. 8:30AM to 6PM in a closed single room with a bunch of kids who are going to shape tomorrow's world. And I am not yet three years old. Is it the same everywhere?

I am sad that my mom is not at home. At 6:15PM, myself and my dad enter the living room and I can see that he is also not very happy. But as he used to say, we do not have a choice. Now I will continue my everyday routine to make a mess of the house with my toys scattered here and there, drawings on the walls (I no longer do it as my dad was so angry one day), recorded voice from toys that would make even Mother Teresa a terrorist, parts of biscuits and chips. Poor dad. He thinks that he can make a better home with that vacuum cleaner that does not work any more. He is picking up the dress I have removed. Gee!!!! I had only 4 pieces and now it is in 5 different places. He will go nuts any time now. I like to keep it where it belongs but you know. It is funny to see my dad in angry mood. Wait! My trump card is spoiling my diapers. And he is going to
have a tough time to get me to the bathroom. You know! I enjoy the slightest opportunity because I don't have many.

Now me and my dad have taken bath, I will play for some time to get dressed. I am going to refuse whatever dress he selects. And I will ask for the wierd combination which will make him think of new tricks to make me believe. I have to surrender as we need to get out in time to catch my mom from her college at 8:15PM. I am going to get one of my book (although I do not read it), that red skirt which he did not allow me to wear and probably the bottle that contains vitamin tablets. I am sure that my dad will agree to carry even the whole house to get me out as he keep watching the clock. What if I ask for that Golden colour watch on his wrist? Probably in the elevator in front of others! You know my dad! In this country, you can't scold me for anything and don't even think of touching. I will call 911 and you are in deep mess. So better behave yourself and obey. Is that the reason why there is so much crime within school kids these days? No! Its because they have an IQ less than 2 and their parents do not even know what and where Dubai is.

This time I will sit properly in the child seat. I do not mind the cops. The reason is that the normal seat is a bit cold. I know dad that you like that song. But don't play it. I want the next one. Fine and thanks. Is it mom calling on that mobile? (I will break that antenna one day! Think about it one more time when you buy mobile next time.) Don't you know that driving with a mobile in your hand can get you a fine? Poor dad! He is on the highway and he does not have a choice. We are now just 2 minutes away from the union of the family in the middle of New York City. We might go gome or I will insist on a dine out. I look forward to any opportunity where I can stamp my authority. My mom gets in and delivers a hug and kiss. Since I do not get it quite often, I cherish these moments. My dad might wish to but you know we are from India where we don't do it on streets. I might as I am in US now. As I lay back on my seat pondering over various bright ideas that I have to implement before we all go to sleep, a smile comes to my lips over my dad's comments to his friend over the phone the other day. He had a proposal to president Bush for withdrawal of troops. Why don't he send us, the chicken little, to Iraq? That is the best compliment I have got todate!