A conversation in the past...

Is time travel possible? Physically? I guess not.. but mentally? Definitely.. The following excerpt from a conversation I had with a friend proves this beyond doubt. :) It does take u back in time..

Disclaimer- Typos aplenty as it was a casual conversation steeped in nostalgia and was typed in a hurry to get the spontaneous rush of thoughts out. Also.. this post includes heavy usage of tamizh written in english! ;)

Acknowledgement: Thanks to Swagath, the person with whom I had this conversation today. Divya, Kaycee and Sriram with whom I have had several similar talks. This conversation I guess summarizes the growing up of a generation!

Time travel begins:

Me: hi
Friend: hi
invisible man
ena panra
Me: yup.. nana.. anu anu va rasichitrukken
:)
nee?
Friend: yara
anuanuva
rasikara
?
Me: yaarayum illa..
vazhkaiya
Friend: pinra po
Me: ha ha
Friend: andha ponnu dhan
un vaazhkaya
?
Me: illa inikku oru epiphany
eppo nammalam ippadi anom
oru gloomy evening
chinna vayasula.
balcony la ukkandhuttu coffee kudichu book padichu maguzhdha kalam ..

ippo kanama poch
Friend: hmmm
dai... naa already feelin nostalgic
Me: adhunala.. veetu vasala pazhaya pattu kettundu coffee kudichindu book

padikkaren
:)
ha ha
yen ennachu?
Friend: naa s ve sekar play
Me: haaaaaaaa
enna play?
Friend: ketundu irundhen
adhishtakaran
Me: niceeeeeee
Friend: adhuku munadi
ayiram udhai vaangi
aboorva singamani
Me: aboorva igamani
Friend: i wud ve listened those a thousand times
Me: chinna vayasula dha double meaning jokes siladhu puriyala..
Me: coll vandhu ketta bodhu dhan purinchichu
Friend: my childhood was
enaku double meanin jokes
enga anna
Friend: xplain paniduvan. So.. i was never ignorant
about those.
Me: ha ha
 well... kadhula poo and mahabharadhathil mangatha than ennoda fav.
Friend: enoda favorite kadhula poo
Me: :)
Friend: dai...epdi da nee ipdi iruka
Me: huh? :)
Friend: i ve a thani respect for ppl who ve listened to
s ve sekar plays
Me: well.. cha actual ah indha mari makkal kadaika mattangala nu
yoschurukken
Friend: adhe da
adhe adhe
Me: people who have lisened to crazy mohan and sve shekhar plays
Friend: hmmm
en kita sila plays iruku
chinna maaple.peria maple, inimay nangathan, ellorum vanga
Me: ippo recent ah madhu plus two ketten romba nalaiku apparam…ah. adhu yen playist la irukku.
Me: pamara makkal rasika mattengaranga…yeppavum nee raja
Friend: tats a rare thing though
Me: yam irukka bayamen
:)
Friend: americavil arukkani
thathupillai
alva
sondha veedu vaadagai veedu aagiradhu, vaal payyan
Me: periappa konjum mokka nu thonum, avanoda pazhaiya plays lan range
Friend: periappa is lotta politics
Me: especially crazy thieves in palavakkam.crazy dialogue and sve shekhar acting..
best combo!
Friend: aama
cha....
gone are those days
Me: yeahhhhh :(
Friend: seriously.... ppl who are 9-10 yrs old
have a diff kind of entertainment
or buddi potu
Me: cassette cassete ah vangi bore adikam bodhellam evening kekara kalam
pochu
Friend: tuition classes
poranga
Me: cha.. namma valara kalathula than video games cricket, drama books
lan padichanga
ippolan.. IIT class 7 an class lendhu pogaradhu
Friend: hmmm
ppl of our age had a broader view of things there were a lotta things we liked and did...
Me: extra curricular activities nu science project appa amma pannaradhu
Me: thing is i dont recollect my parents getting me started on these.
they helped provide teh resources.. but nammala cultivate pannadhu dhan..
adhu yen ippo illa nu theriyala
Friend: hmm yeah…or..tuition teacher orthara assign panni
they make that teacher responsible
for all academic activities of the child
Me: pavam pasanga..
Friend: hmmm...
Me: mukkiyama padam dvd ellarkittayum computer..
Friend: hmmm
Me: adhunala matha edhuvum kannuku theriyardhilla
nalla vela namma valaram bodhu ivalavu computers illa internet illa
Friend: hmm yeah
Me: ellam correct order la invent pannanga namma thappichutom
Friend: :) my kids wil knw s ve sekar and crazy mohan........
Me: mine too…they better or i will disown them :)
Friend: note book attai la water colours vechu chessboard pananum
cards aadanum
Me: chinna vayasulaye book padikara habit valardhu vittudanum
Friend: daayakattai
Me: ha ha.. :) true true!
ahhhhhhhhh dayakattai.. !
pallankuzhi
Friend: :)
cricket aadanum
Me: yen pandi ada kooda kathukudukkanum
:)
Friend: ha haha
Me: hmm indha ooru pasangala pathiya.
Friend: padipu for pleasure.....not a matter of pressure
Friend: hmmm
Me: ella pasangalum . veetula ukkandhu..
sila pera partha oru paiyan nu thonave thonadhu.
Friend: ha ha
Me: pasanga na thuru thuru nu velila vilayadi.. adi pattutu.. kannadi udachuttu vandhu olinchikira gumbal illa
Friend: cha aama da…alice boys
Me: ellam dinner table la.. dad. can i be excused , i have to watch a
movie nu paniva kekara mokka dogs ah ayidaranga
:)
Friend: lock and key
chain cut
Me: :):)
statue..
treasure hunt
Friend: hmmm
statue.........
LONDON GUNDAN.........................STATUE
Me: he heeee
:)
rathiri ukkandhu motta madila pei kadha pesaradhu
Friend: oh.......
chance e ila la
Rs 1.50 ku rasna packet
big fun "bubble gum"
cricket cards
Me: ah trading cards..
tazos..
Friend: hmmmm
Me: innum enga veetla wrestling and cricket card collection vechurukken velaimathipilladha porul ayidum nu nenaikaren future la. well. nammaku vayasayiducho nu thonudhu oru pakkam.
:)
Friend: en kitayum iruku enga pochu................................adhelam.
y are kids like this these days. axually thats y..........sometimes kids here are better when brought up here.
Me: sampras illa, becker illa, agassi illa, sachin, dravid, ganguly. andha kalam mudiyapogdhu
Friend: they r not pressurized with education sampras... my all time fav.
Me: hmm.. but peter ah ayidarangale. culture vera puriya mattengudhu.
anga valarama kashtam. verum varathukku rendu nal bharatanatyam class pona culture vandhuduma?
Friend: but.. culture has a new meanin there
culture means... a kid goin to tuition classes frm class 2.
Friend: and specs frm grade 3
competin with friends
Me: yeas thats true now..
friends eh kashtam..
Friend: now the term friends are
replaced by the term
competitors
Me: chinna class lendhe competition..enga friendship varum.
Friend: DAV is a prototype..... and all other schools are instances
Me: thing is adha niruthanum nu solla mudiyala open ah. enna nejam adhudhan..
Friend: idhu dhan ippodiki nelama,.....

Friend: reservation rockets every yr,....
Me: yeah..namma makkal ku kekave venam. FC minority ayittanga
Friend: india la bhramins are the only class wher they dont hav a fair chance.....
and welcomed by "equal employment opportunit"y
provider
in the US
Me: hmm.. unmai.
Friend: and other countries
Me: but ingayum adhu dhane prachanai..
Friend: edhu... competition a ?/
Me: indha oor makkal minorities ku adhigama vela kuduthadhunala dhan
recession nu sollaranga
ella eduthulayum adhe prachana. enna vera vera roobathula irukku
Friend: hmmmmm
but....irukara varikom.. u can manage
Me: yeah. mexicans, indians, chinese,


End

And the conversation was left without a conclusion as most of the events in life ends. Sometimes it does do well to dwell on the past and forget to live in the present contrary to Albus Dumbledore. :)

Fuzzy thoughts from childhood...

As a grad student in US, I can tell you that there are a lot of sporadic moments when you go ballistic with joy, like the end of a midterm, the starting of fall or spring break, an internship call or the occasional good sambhar(when you are cooking of course)! But I can safely say that there aren't a lot of those moments when you feel at peace with yourself, wrapped up in that comfortable aura of smugness or satisfaction with the general world outside, moments that linger like the early morning mist which creeps in unannounced and disappears gradually without your knowledge as the day brightens and hots up. These slow but more enriching, fulfilling pockets of time that have dominated a significant part of my life unknowingly were not remembered or recognized as the happiest times of my life till this day. It took three assignments, two phone interviews, an evening when I wanted to stop working for saving myself from going insane and finally a bad coffee for this humble epiphany to strike! So now I embark on a fuzzy tale, sitting on a stiff back ache rendering chair half way around the world reminiscing about all the things that count as those magical moments, those I would like to coin as ephemeral joys of childhood imprinted for eternity...chumma english la vetti scene podalam nu.. Here we gooooooo

My earliest memory was this hazy scene that took place in the kitchen of the first house I remember living in. I was in LKG. I was living in Karaikal, a place halfway between a town and a village, south of Pondicherry. My dad was the manager of a bank in an even more obscure place called Sankaranpandhal (the name of which i recollected after several squabbles with my memory(squabbles a word that i again had to wrench out to suit the context) ). So my dad was like a really well known guy in the town being the manager of the only bank in the region. Anyway i am digressing, coming back to the kitchen, there I was standing in the middle of it facing the stove and the big round jars on teh shelves in front of me. I remember the hardly three feet round mass of flesh and a wobbly head (adiyen, i.e me) creeping behind a bigger, cuter version of me (my mom :-)) wearing a blinding pink color nighty with black threads dangling, cooking dinner diligently. After startling her, I pose the question " Mummy, Where did i come from and how come I dont remember me being a baby?" My mom startled and confused by the round mass asking the philosophy of life question tries to come up with an answer that I can understand. She finally asks me if I wanted to see how I was when I was a baby. I nod in reply and she whisks me out of the kitchen and sets up the VCR. The next one hour when I watched my first birthday video with my parents, recognizing my grandparents, my uncle, cousins, my first fight (of many) with my brother and seeing a baby me fighting with a giant teddy bear and giggling will be my first ephemeral joy! :) Other brilliant moments in Karaikal include my first catch in cricket and the subsequent rejoicing all evening long, the weekend visits to Tirunallar temple sitting infront of my father on our reliable bajaj cub scooter with the wind in my face and the traditional paddy fields rolling past on either side, the trips to tharangambadi( travancore) fort where on a rainy day you can catch turtles washed ashore lying on their backs as if they were waiting to be tickled. Finally the dinners at the same old fancy veg restautant followed by a visit to the foreign market selling exotic and fascinating perfumes and Rs. 35 digital watches with date and stop watch functionality in downtown karaikal! :)

To be continued... ;)