Archive for the 'I miss India' Category

V Day or I Day?

Published on February 14, 2009 in I miss India, Just Rambling and Life etc.. 4 Comments

Feb 14th.

No chocolate for guessing what is so significant about this date.

But I bet you would have guessed it wrong about the significance of today w.r.t. me (with respect to. Anyone remember calculus?)

Instead of getting a date, I got a phone call… from my parents. And they wished me Happy Birthday! A birthday that even I came to know of, only after the call. Before you get all confused, today is my birthday according to Indian Calendar. And because I don’t have an Indian Calendar here in US, I didn’t know earlier. Oh, I just love being Indian. You can have two birthdays per year!

Anyway, it came as a pleasant surprise, because I had absolutely no plans for today. Now I can celebrate, and not look like an ass slacking on Valentine’s day.

Also, I called my brother, and I talked to him like I talk to my mom – for 45 minutes. The only difference was that we talked about some subjects, which I never dare talk to my mom. It spanned topics like my theory about his craze for Telugu movies (His secret Telugu Girlfriend! Not so secret any more!), about our parents’ trip to Mettupalayam today, how to survive in the cutthroat world of office, my plans for Valentine’s day, his plans, and of course, Ram Sene.

  1. My brother didn’t know that my parents were going to Mettupalayam today. When he asked me why, I said in my usual fashion, that they were going to Black Thunder themepark to rediscover their childhood. He replied back with an impromptu punchline, “Paada Parambil keri Golf kalikkalle Mone Dineshaa” (Don’t play Golf in barren land. To understand what he meant, read this post, section 6.1)
  2. I told him how to proactively cut the throat of those who are planning to cut your throat. You can even mention that during your appraisal, as an example of how proactive you are.
  3. My plans for V-Day – Eat, study, sleep.
  4. His plans for V-Day – Eat, work, sleep when the manager is not around.
  5. My brother told me about Ram Sene’s threat that they will forcibly marry off any couple they see on roads. He was talking about how the mob was a bunch of sexually frustrated losers who wanted an excuse to grope girls. I couldn’t help but crack this joke that there may be gays in Ram Sene, so boys are not safe either. (I am sorry if this is insensitive, but this is how I will show my protest, because I can’t do anything about it from US)

So, because today is my birthday, I’m gonna celebrate it by ordering a pizza and the delicious Chocolate Breadsticks from Pizza Hut.

PS: I generally don’t talk about my Indian birthday outside, because it is strictly for family. But today was too much of a coincidence!

PPS: On an entirely different note, an important event occured yesterday, which will never occur again. At 6:31pm, the UNIX timestamp struck the value of 1234567890. But the trouble-seeker that I am, I accidentally slept across the iconic moment, and incurred the wrath of all UNIX enthusiasts.

Light and Sound

Published on October 29, 2008 in I miss India and Just Rambling. 13 Comments

This Diwali was very different for me. This was the first Diwali in my life where I haven’t burst crackers or lighted sparklers. Heck, I didn’t even see any fireworks anywhere.

These are the few things you miss when you are away from your country. All the festivities, all the fun. Sure there are special days here, but I just can’t connect with those. To me, Halloween is always associated with Harry Potter. I didn’t even know what “Trick or Treat” meant till a year back.

Makes me miss India much much more. I just hope I finish my studies as soon as I can and return India.

So, my Diwali was spent in calling all close friends and relatives and wishing them. I miss those fireworks. Unlike most others, I just used to love the noise and din early in the morning. I remember showing off different dangerous tricks with the firecrackers. I used to light them up in hand and throw them just in time to burst them in air. My brother used to be awed at this stunt as a kid. My mom always tried to stop me from doing that; even my dad used to try and dissuade me. But I would sneak out and do it nevertheless.

I used to think that my dad himself was afraid of crackers. I prefer using an agarbathi to light those. My dad used to roll a newspaper into a footlong roll and light the crackers using it from a safe distance. I realised that the elders are wiser rather than cowardly, from a really nasty incident. I was, as usual, trying to show off to my brother and his friends by throwing a cracker. Unfortunately for me, it lit up really fast, faster than my reflex. It burst in my hands. This was when I was in 9th standard. My entire left palm got burnt. Thankfully they were only minor burns. My mom didn’t let me go near any fireworks for an entire year

Another great delight were the diyas. Watching all those vivid designs in each house was a real treat. I miss those moments of sheer joy.

Some of the people raise concern over the air and sound pollution caused by all the firework. All I can say is that I am (and everyone else) entitled to one day of pure, unadulterated disregard of peace and quiet per year. I’m sure I more than make up for the rest of the year.

In other news, Raleigh is getting colder by the day. I have to wear thermals and a jacket whenever I step out, because I’m not at all used to this cold weather. Heck, even my face turns numb after sometime. Luckily, I’m so much of a chatterbox that I exercise my lips and mouth constantly and prevent them from getting numb. Plus, I wrote this post in 15 minutes, so please excuse any crude language.

Oh.. And Happy Diwali and Happy Halloween to all of you.