Etthanai kodi inbam vaithaai...

(Copied from my FB Note)

It has been 2 years, 1 month and and 4 days since I first spoke with Hari. I should say time has flown by. A few greys more on our heads, a few kilograms more and an un-measurable amount of happiness...
When mom was groom-hunting, I didn't have a list of criteria- ranging from height, weight, complexion to IQ, education and job credentials, like most gal pals of mine do. I was going through a huge personal turmoil; I came home from work, everyday, dreading the prospect of having THE talk. Long faces, tears, threats, advice... a forgettable phase. All the frustration led to an indifference in me. I refused to be part of the 'procedure' and said 'do whatever you want to'. I put on the earphones and stared at the computer screen whenever mom wanted to talk about this-boy-that-boy.
It was one late night when I received a message from a guy named Harishankar; he wanted to talk to me and he had obtained my number thanks to the groom search. I had no clue that mum had given him my number. All I had back then was rage- mum had given my number to a stranger I had no intention to even talk to, let alone marry!
I have always, in the past done one thing to vent my frustration- call up my favorite aunt and shout it all out. And that's what I did that night. My aunt advised I be polite and I acknowledged the message. I called him up ( i refused to 'rise-to-the-bait' when he tried being chivalrous saying he ll return the long-distance-call)l; and said I have a closet full of skeletons, past relationships, that I am indifferent; that I am more-atheist-than-theist and most importantly,that I am not the kind of girl a typical MIL would approve of.
Harishankar, CA, MBA (IIM-C), Equity Research Associate, Credit Suisse, High IQ Society- the profile intimidated me and very frankly I didn't take it seriously for I was sure he'd have a queue of rich CEO dads with b'ful daughters, wanting him as SIL- a future CEO/CFO in their family tree. Here I was, average looking, average IQ, dirt poor,bad BMI, with an IT job I was exceptionally bad at, extreme laziness and lack of cerebral matter reflecting badly on my CAT scores.
My first conversation with Harishankar Ramamoorthy was confusing. I was in a confessional mode, listing out cons from my side when he spoke Madras Bhaashai, laughed at pj's, amused himself and a perplexed me with Vadivel jokes. He was least snobbish and had no qualm in admitting that he enjoys parotta-saalna at Brilliant Tutorial kaiyendhi Bhavan. He didn't wear brands, nor did he drive anything fancy. He could admit that he preferred watching American sitcoms with subtitles...He had had his share of bad luck with past relationships and patiently listed why they had failed to work out. End of conversation 1, I felt sleepless... I called up my aunt, woke her up again at ungodly hours and recounted every piece of the conversation. I rifled for reasons I could state- to reject this guy. I was still confused and did not want to marry someone intimidating.To my surprise, we talked again after 36 hours of total restlessness. I was in a boring meeting about Telecom biz domain; nothing got into my head as always. I cut the call, and was surprised to note that he was making a second call.
A series of calls between Bombay and Chennai ensued, our respective bosses weren't happy(not that I was productive even before the marathon calls started). He was putting in his papers and wanted to chill out for a couple of months. After aeons, we met,he apologised sheepishly for appearing in bathroom slippers, clothes from Thretha Yuga and a borrowed bike- he was just back from a 7 day Sikkim trek and hadn't showered all along!After several more yugas, I laughed out loud and said 'yes, I want to marry you' over a crossword puzzle! The tables were turned, my mum went berserk when she came to know he was quitting CS and I was determined to marry Hari. And thus began our life together.
Today, after 2 years, I realise that I love the guy. More than anything else.
He still holds my hand while crossing the road... We are not bored of listening to each others' work woes. We still fight like street dogs, storm out of the house and then make up with a sheepish grin. He has resigned to the fact that he's married someone who cannot keep account of every paise spent, that she cannot multiply 3*3 digits mentally, that she hates onions(his uyir-naadi). I have understood that it's no use shouting at him- demanding that he shave, shower, use soap & shampoo, cut nails, have a hair cut and wear washed clothes. We discuss our past relationships.
We occupy the 100th percentile, on the yardstick of happily married couples.
Most people who see us today, refuse to believe we are married, and that we got married the 'arranged marriage' way. A store assistant in Pattaya asked Hari, 'Oooooh, so you are holidaying in Pattaya with your girlfriend, eh?'
Why did I start writing this? Because today marks 2 years, 1 month and four days knowing Hari? Because someone asked what made a self confessed cynic like me marry and lead a happy life?
Etthanai kodi inbam vaitthaai...

My shot at a serialised story- Part 1

Have you ever had the experience of seeing a bunch of High IQ society people on a collective high? If not, you can ask Veena, for a detailed account. She will recount the senseless-when-sober jokes, the 'machaans, machis and maaplais' they haven't used since college, the unabashed voice of naked souls, sobriety tests where the city's highest paid Investment bankers start reciting the Fibonacci series in the right order- to prove that their mind is still sharp; the first one to falter gets jeered at for his/her lack of capacity, the rush for the bill when it arrives, the obscene amounts of money they are willing to pay for a night of inebriation... and much more.

Veena felt every cell in her body vibrating with each decibel played at the Hard Rock Cafe. She would sometimes dream that the vibrations reached resonant frequency and the whole place came crumbling down, like from one of the dreams in 'Inception'. Her fingers tightened against her clutch involuntarily, as if to run at the first sign of such an occurence.

Veena.. Appa named her Veena, seeing the infant's slender and long fingers. And he died without hearing her play the Veena, much to his dismay. She could swear that most of these men could trace back (not way back.. just 5-6 years back..) to a middle class settlement, with banker parents who sent their wards to CBSE schools and Math classes in the hope that their sons and a rare daughter could achieve great IIT JEE ranks. Though they would not have visualized the young guns in HRC, especially with 'Neela Theevu, Pani Thaeneer' (you gotta thank Karthik for this Tamilisation) in hand. The world of Atheism, Agnosticism, LIIT, HRC, Freedom... this was indeed distant from what the parents had envisaged when they looked lovingly at the new born, and whispered not just the li'l one's name three times on Punyajanam day, but also a demanded that the child stand first in class forever, become an NTSE scholar, enter IIT and eventually go to NASA and settle down with an American salary. Of course American salary, Green card AND an Indian wife- a girl of their choice! Aaah, the dreams of the 80's and 90's...

She nudged Karthik with an elbow; she didn't hazard shouting across- she knew the din would drown even the takeoff of a jet but she found him busy with the paper napkin. He was trying to scribble Veena in his miniscule scrawl... the scrawl stood testimony for his inebriation levels, despite him giving f(11) in the Fibonacci series perfectly!

To be continued...

Cookies!

I have been trying my baking skills with my new LG MW/Grill/Convection Oven. Baking is soooo inviting, not just eating... even the cooking part of it.. So much that Hari donned the apron and started off baking his vanilla cake!! The cake was awesome and I could not click it, for we just devoured it right out of the oven. I tried baking butter cookies today and I found time to snap the last piece left :)

Too bad I cannot paste the aroma along with the pic here.

Movie Marathon past week:



Virudhagiri -  Muzhu neela nagaichuvai padam! Gaptain speaks English, appeals for votes from the LGBT societies of Tamil Nadu and fights for student rights in Australia. It's a welcome relief that he doesn't dance in Scottish highlands or in the Swiss Alps, with a fair maiden the age of his grand-daughter.

Chikku Bukku- Ayyyoooooooo! Ezhavu! What charm does Tamil audience see in 'bubbly-bubbly' heroines?

Manmadhan Ambu- I liked it, even though Hari found it irritating.
What's with Kamal and losing a young wife? Vettayaadu Vilayadu, Mahanadhi, Kaakhi sattai, Hey Ram, MMA, Vetri Vizha, Vikram... Wikied and the list goes on and on... And it alsos mocks at me for not having watched a few films! If I aspire to do justice when I claim 'I am Deepa, Ph. D in Tamil Cinema', I need to watch them all. Also, I want to watch 'Thirakatha', a Malayalam movie said to be inspired by the relationship between Srividya and Kamal Haasan.

Mochi's is on sale. Flat 50 percent off on stock that is proving expensive to be storing any longer. Was able to find one pair among the maaasss of useless stock. For a dream price of 445 bucks! :)

Marks and Spencer boasts of a sale upto 70 percent off. Formal shirts and Jeans at less than 1000 bucks... Very surprisingly, Hari accompanied me and actually picked up something for himself at the sale! A pair of Am-I-really-wearing-anything Jeans! Too bad M&S, Chennai does not have much kitchenware yet.

Part Time Instructor, Full Time Shopper

Allopathy, homeopathy and telepathy never work on me, I swear by retail therapy. The last couple of years, I haven't done much else- I have swiped my cards at every place worth a visit! And I have haggled for a bargain with every vendor who doesn't have a card reading terminal. In fact, I chose to study German over French because Goethe Institute, Max Mueller Bhavan is situated in the shopping district of Chennai- on Khader Nawaz Khan Road and Alliance Francais has no such feature to boast about. Now that I have taken up a job that pays me for my own shopping, Hari can heave a sigh of relief! Anyway, I have decided to blog about interesting buys henceforth.

Betty Crocker's Pancake mix- If you loooove pancakes in the morning, with honey oozing from it, you gotta try this! I tried BC's Pancake mix Complete with plain water as the instructions said but felt it's loads better with milk and beaten egg. While we are at it, I swear by honey from Auroville, though the price is anything but sweet- at around 600 bucks a litre. It comes with pollen visible to the naked eye, apparently pollen is very nutritious!

While most tourist shoppers throng the fashion districts of London, good old me fell in love with Tesco, their largest supermarket chain. I came back with boxes of breakfast cereal, Sainsbury's fruit preserves, Guocomole dip and such stuff! I also got fitted sheets (6 GBP) and a weighing scale ( 2.99 GBP) from IKEA. I love IKEA prices, I sooooo wanted to get their kitchen stuff but Hari would have disowned me then and there if I had added to the baggage. Not that I did not visit the fashion districts at all... Clarks, London wooed me with its shoes and I got a sexy pair! I am yet to visit Star Bazaar in Ampa Skywalk mall- Tata and Tesco's joint venture.

I finally have the guts to admit that I am old! OOOOLD. I try to walk to keep shape and I stick to the least traffic ridden places in KK Nagar. And these places are full of young teens romancing around with their highschool sweethearts... after concocting stories about special classes and late tuition classes to folks at home. I am greatly annoyed for some reason! A classic sign of aging, along with crow's feet and laughlines! Anyway, coming back to me admitting that I am old, I am sticking to Cottonworld Corp, for their trousers, Jeans and the like are soooooo comfy. If you want comfort, more than style, head for CWC. I hate it that when I ask any retail outlet for 'Jeans, size 36', they give me a stare and direct me to the mens' section! I tried like 6 permutaions and combinations of cut and style and size in Wills Lifestyle and came out with ONE courtesy buy- a button up shirt for an obscene amount of money ( and it doesn't fit either). Got it just to make sure the store assistant doesn't strangle me with a belt for leaving empty handed after having tested his patience soooo long. And then I headed to CWC and Hari's credit card will speak for months to come about my splurge!

Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan on the cards... Suriya shouldn't think twice about playing the role of Vandhiya Thevan! I am very interested in knowing who plays Poonkuzhali. Watched Manmadhan Ambu last weekend - I loved it while Hari thought otherwise. Maddy has played his role awesomely- rich spoilt mamma's boy. I could relate with Sangeetha's role, I admit! Seeing the movie, I badly want to revisit Paris, Venice and Rome. And Splendida, here I come!