Time for some Dusting
Posted by Kavitha Narayanan in JLT on April 3rd, 2010
You have been so busy with life doing absolutely nothing of importance for many many years and suddenly one fine day, you have the entire 24 hours to yourself… Not only that you realize you are going to have many more such days.. What do you do?? 
I picked up the phone and called my once best friends only to realize that they will always remain best friends. I definitely was hesitant to take the first step but I don’t repent it one bit. Nothing had changed - we just talked and talked as if we were sitting next to each other in the same old cement bench, in the same old hard culvert or in our hostel room.. and obviously it amazed us on how we were catching up after 10 years as if it was yesterday. 
Cinema, Cinema..
Posted by Kavitha Narayanan in JLT on March 21st, 2010
A nice sunny Saturday..I woke up real late after being awake till 4:00 AM practically doing nothing (not even watching TV). I fixed myself a quick breakfast and with a cup of “chai” sat in my favorite spot in the living room after opening the windows. The sparrows obviously had woken up way before I did and spent the rest of the morning chirping away to glory demanding their breakfast. It was a daily ritual that we shared and I am their provider (my husband calls it their “mess”, the hotel where cheap food is provided, but we are just so darn hungry that everything tastes yummy in spite of the discordant surroundings).
Been away
Posted by Kavitha Narayanan in Personal on March 13th, 2010
Hello,
Money Honey!
Posted by Kavitha Narayanan in JLT on May 26th, 2009
I feel terribly guilty!!!! It is the end of a 3 day long weekend (technically I still have 10 hours left) but I will probably spend it doing what I did for the most part of the past 62 hours… Sleeping or Watching TV.. Darn!! And all that I wanted to do with these 3 days…
Plan 1 - Meet hubby and spent some quality family time
Dint work out as neither of us wanted to shell out the whooping amount to cover the cost of the travel
Plan 2 - Study, Study really hard and give a Technical exam
Dint work out as I was too busy sleeping and watching TV
Plan 3 - Meet friends and bond with some people I should have bonded long back
Dint work out as I was too busy sleeping and watching TV
I am not going any further as any smart person would by now guess what happened to the 5 other plans that I made for this weekend.
I did one thing though.. SHOPPING!!! Well, if hanging around in the mall for 4 hours (all days together) and spending 35$ can be considered SHOPPING! Yes 35$. I got myself a T-shirt, a summer shirt, a flip flop and something else (not worth mentioning)
It is a great deal I know!! Thank you Thank you! I can be a smart shopper most of the times.
Now, I liked a zillion things.. Who doesn't? Especially when you hit the mall everything looks good. (On another note, I only wish they designed mannequins that actually looked like me… that way I would know how that top / shirt will actually look on me). Getting back to where I was, yes… I did like a lot of things but I was holding on to my purse strings as tightly as I can. I shamelessly fall in the category of people who spend more time saving money.
This is how I look at it, there are 2 categories of people - one category spends most part of their lives making money (like my parents), the second category spends most part of their lives saving money. Most of my friends fall in category 2 and that is because we have one job and no matter how many hours we spend working we never make more money If only IT started paying for overtime (sigh! sob!)
So, all we ever do is work, work, work longer (with no results) and wonder how best we can save money. Anything that's inexpensive gets a "Smile", anything that goes over the budget gets a “No not needed NOD”. We rarely do stuff for ourselves because we are so busy wondering ' "Do I really need it", "Is it a luxury", "Will anyone even notice", "Should I rather spend my time at home" and always the head wins.
I honestly don't have money to blow (who does!), I don't even have enough money to sustain me a year if I quit my job (again who does!) but I wish my life did not revolve around money. I wish I had the guts to go to the mall and swipe my credit card as if it wasn't even mine, go to a luxury spa and have the day of my life, had the best people work on my hair, feet, hand and face, got expensive gifts for people I care and just plainly lived every day as if there was no tomorrow.
I wish I could get there soon but for now I will need to learn to be happy with some hot home-made pakodas, the soaps on TV and my comfortable bed ' Once I am happily settled I can rack my brains on how best I can save money J
Mummy!
Posted by Kavitha Narayanan in Personal on May 11th, 2009
Mummy,
You stood by me when no one else did,
You held my hand and gave me the courage I always needed
You smiled with me when I smiled
You never cried with me but gave me the moral support as my best guide
I owe everything I am to you
You were always there for me through and through
I know I havent said this enough
But you are a teacher who is really tough
You are my best friend
And the stories I tell you will never really end
You love everyone I do like your own
For you I still havent really grown
You are my best friend, my toughest teacher and my ever reliable guide
But above all you are my MOM, my Mummy, my MEE…
You are the best thing that happened to me .. and I love you so darn much!!!!!
Who is the fool now?
Posted by Kavitha Narayanan in JLT on April 2nd, 2009
It is April Fool’s Day!!
While I was tossing and turning in my bed last night till 3:00 AM, I could not stop thinking of how notable this day was when we were young. By March 30th we were already planning on how to fool people, sometimes it was a group act but most of the times it was solo.
The day started off with me or my sister targeting Anna at 6:00 AM. 'Anna ' mani 8:00 ayidichu, enthirikala??' (Anna, it is 8:00 aren't you waking up?) or 'Anna, Pandiyan Anna vanthu irrukaanga - Enthiri' (Anna your friend Pandiyan Anna has come ' wake up). If Anna was smart enough to not be fooled than it was Appa. Appa never escaped
Where I come from you could fool anyone on the street and they would give you a pleasant smile as if it made their day - being fooled Like the times we used to scream out to stranger Ungle’s on the way to school (The Tamil version of Uncle) -”Ungle, unga TVS la light on a irruku!” (Uncle, the headlights in your TVS-50 are on) or “Ungle, tire flat a irruku” (Uncle, your vehicle’s tire is flat) or “Ungle, unga bag keela vilundhudichu” (Uncle, your bag’s fallen). And when they stop or check the supposedly problem area we yell out.. “Ungle - April Fool!!!” And he would give us a nice smile and affectionately say “Ennama Bayam budithitiyae” - (You scared me).
Once inside school the day of pranks never ended. When friends tell you - “Your dress is dirty” or “Your hair is messed” or “Your notebook is torn” - You should not check or act as if you believe them, because you do not want to be April Fooled. All our guards are high on this single day. I remember once one of my seniors roamed the whole day with crow shit on her back because she refused to believe when people told her. I also remember being yelled at by P.T miss because I did not meet her when she asked me too (Well! Viji did tell me that P.T miss called me but I was not someone to be fooled!)
Nobody was spared from these silly pranks - Appa, Athai, Raja Ungle, pakkathu veetu Bharat (neighbor Bharat), Raja Anna, Napolean Ungle, every person we know and every stranger who had the misfortune of bumping into us.
Thinking about it I cannot believe how silly and happy we were - No practical jokes, no pain inflicted, no harm done, just harmless lies!!! But given that today is April Fool;s day and I haven’t fooled anyone, I wish I could get back to being silly again.
I know what you are asking me - WHO IS THE FOOL NOW!!
I am not going to answer that In my wildest dream, I never thought I would have fond memories of April Fool’s day - but hey, who can deny this - Every trip down the memory lane is filled with joy!!!!
LOVE
Posted by Kavitha Narayanan in JLT on February 15th, 2009
It is Valentines Day!! Yipppee!!! Yay!!! I just love today… I wish we had more days like this… A weekend that is also special!!!!!!! How could this day get better? A Saturday were you get to watch good romantic movies on the television. Okay Okay! All the excitement was about the Saturday and not on Valentines day. Well, what else could one do when you live alone and have a long distance relationship. So yes, am married - have been married for 5 wonderful years and have probably spent more than 50% of our married life away from each other. While sometimes the separation was a choice we made, other times it was because of what situation demanded of us. This time it’s one of those!!! (DARN!!! I hate it!).
So what did I do today? I stayed up late last night to finish some office work, woke up early for the same reason, called my husband a million times over small details, received calls from him a zillion times over even smaller details, took a nap, cleaned up my mess called home, started packing for shifting out of Sunny California to be closer to my husband and spent a whopping 2 hours staring at our anniversary pictures
Yes, We just completed 5 years of marriage last week and 7 years of knowing each other. Nothing has changed! Absolutely nothing that it is sometimes scary. I know couples who fall apart after 2-3 years of married life even the like-minded ones. Let’s not even talk about people who are totally different from each other like us. Most of our special days fall in the month of February, so the whole month is terribly special for us. He proposed to me this month and for one whole year sent me gifts every month to celebrate what we called the “Proposal Day”. Silly I know :) And the gifts were always redundant. But hey who cares .. gifts are gifts and it is the thought that counts. Since the first day we decided to get into this relationship of love and trust, he has been full of surprises and I couldnt have asked for anything more. Our 5th anniversary was no different.
I have to be honest, just like every relationship we have had our share of MOMENTS but the good ones have been way over the bad. I agree, We all could have been better, with better heath, more free time, lesser work, more money, more friends, lesser arguments…. but what we dont realise is we are doing just GREAT today. We all have someone who loves us and cares for us! In the midst of our LIVING OUR LIFE, we just dont take the time to appreciate what we have.
Valentines Day is one day were we need to stop living our life the way we do and take the time to appreciate what we have and who we have!!
LONG LIVE VALENTINES DAY, LOVE LIVE MY/OUR LOVE!!!
Love Hurts
Posted by Kavitha Narayanan in Story on December 29th, 2008
“Hello all, this is my first attempt at a story… so please bear with me!!”
She sat in her favorite chair sipping her hot tea. It was a beautiful day, the morning breeze touched her gently leaving her skin respond with those tiny little goosepimples. The mist did a splendid job by covering all the slums that she could otherwise see from the 16th floor balcony. The lonely red rose that blossomed for the first time in her balcony’s garden swayed gently splashing the dewdrops on her hand. She felt fresh and rejuvinated, a feeling she hasnt had for ages now.
Just 22 Jina looked 40. Her face has become the pallet of numerous wrinkles with all the worries that never seemed to end, her eyes were always swollen every morning as she wept herself to sleep the night before, she felt exhausted at the end of every single day not just physically but mentally as well. Jina did not love the person she was now. It has been 3 years since she sat there looking at herself in the mirror and smiling at the person she was looking at…3 years since she went shopping to buy clothes, jewels, shoes, perfumes and anything she felt like…. 3 years since she aimlessly sat around in the night watching horror movies and eating popcorn…. 3 years since she hung out with her girl friends and smiled gleefully at the handsome hunk around…. 3 years since she has been herself… 3 years since she lived! And to think that it was her choice to be this way? She couldnt believe it.
She still remembered the day Anup walked to her, two years senior in college Anup was the talk in the girls hostel. Her seniors were always raving about him. Jina only saw him after 2 months of her freshman year. “Oh! This guy is really handsome, who is he“ - she remembered wondering, staring at him while she was in the canteen waiting on her classmates to join her to discuss their project work. She realised this smart guy was walking towards her and she so badly wanted to turn away, maybe even look at the other guys but she couldnt. He approched her and pointed to the chair next to her - “Can I sit down here?”
“Well, ummm..yes, sure.. why not.. ofcourse you can..”.
He simply smiled, the dimple on his right cheek gave an extra character to his already handsome face. She still couldnt take his eyes off him. He held his hand forward - “Anup, 3rd year ECE“. “Ahhh!! no wonder these girls couldnt stop talking about him. This guy is really a blessing on this college”.
“hmm..oh…I am Jina, first year ECE“.
“Nice meeting you Jina, thats a lovely name…..” and she never heard the rest of what he said. All she could remember was the dimple that occasionally came out when he smiled, his sparkling white teeth, his soft dark hair and the little pimple that was the only distraction on his otherwise perfect skin. She could never forget that day. That was the day she fell in love for the first time!
Slowly their accidental meetings seemed to increase as if desired by mother nature and then their planned meetings. Anup met Jina almost every other day in the college canteen causing Jina to be the object of envy of most of her hostel-mates. Friendship turned to love and it was June 10th, 4 days before she had to pack her bags for her first year vacation that he proposed. Jina did not respond but her gleaming eyes spoke a million words …. of excitement and happiness. They sealed the day with the most romantic kiss and he walked her back to the hostel. Their love grew and her interest in studying slowly weaned. All she wanted was to hug him, kiss him and be with him. When she was with him she spent her time kissing and staring at him and when she was away she spent her time dreaming about him. Very soon another year passed away, another year of low grades, lying to parents, numerous visits to theatres, uncountable kisses and red roses for Jina. For Anup it was a very successful year, he had found his lady love, was finishing his fourth year and was to leave college, was the year’s gold medalist and already had a high paid job in one of the MNC’s in Mumbai.
While Jina was happy about his job and all his accomplishments she was deeply sadened by the thoughts of having to live away from him. The last day of college they bid their tearful byes…he promised to come and visit her ever so often and she promised to study hard and join him in Mumbai soon. To her it seemed to be the tragic end of a very beautiful story.
Back home she could not stop thinking about him and all that he did….the roses he sent to apologise when she was angry, the disney movies he watched with her though he hated them, the way he patiently taught her engineering maths (ah, how she hated it..), his warm wet kiss, his handsomely contoured body, his captivating dimple….. The vacations seemed to move painfully slowly for the first time and her parents realised there was something wrong. Her mom kept asking her probing questions and she was not in a position to let her little secret out, atleast not yet! When she came back to college she was excited to get her freedom back. She threw her bags in her room and rushed to call Anup from the college canteen. He seemed happy and was enjoying his new job, he said he missed her but did not sound it and that bothered Jina. The next weekend she took a flight to Mumbai and there he was waiting to meet her in the airport with red roses. She ran into his arms and gave him a deep kiss. Anup was embarassed but was too excited to have her around and did not scold her for acting silly in a public place. They stayed in Anup’s apartment and that night was the best night of her life. She did not know how it all started but when it ended she was terribly glad it started. In the morning she woke up with guilt but just looking at him lying next to her she knew it did not matter. She loved him and they were going to get married anyways, werent they?
Her trips to meet him increased and were sponsored by Anup. He was always excited about her arrival, waiting for her with a bouquet of red roses and she spent all her days in college waiting to meet him. 3rd year in college was about to end and she realised she did not clear any of her internals which would mean that she cant move to the next year. She was shocked and scared.
“What will I tell my parents“.. I will tell them the course is very difficult, but I was the school topper… they will not buy it“.
She immediately called Anup… “Please send me some money, I need to meet you“.
“What happened sweety? Is everything alright?“.
“Dont ask me anything I need to come there and meet you now!“.
“Ok, check your bank in another 2 hours you should have the money“.
She took the first flight to Mumbai. As soon as she saw him she broke down… “I cant write my exams, my internal grades are horrible. My parents are going to kill me. What will I tell them” …..she wept uncontrollably. He simply hugged her, took her back to the car and kept saying..“It is OK sweety. Dont cry! We will find a way“. The found a way after 2 days, monday morning when she was supposed to fly back Jina did not. She instead called her parents..“Mama, my exams are starting next week!”.
“Good luck Jina, am sure you will do well.. we are waiting to see you“.
“Mama, I wont be able to come for the summer vacations. I need to go to Chennai for a college project as soon as the exams get over“.
“But Jina its more than 8 months since we met“.
“I know Mama, I have just been so busy with all the college work. I will surely come whenever I get a break“.
“Ok.. We love you Jina and will miss you“.
“I love you too Mama. Bye, gotta go!“
It worked perfectly fine. She spent the rest of the vacation with Anup.
Another week and it was time for college to re-open. Jina would be repeating the 3rd year and not moving to 4th year along with her classmates. She was embarassed to go back but Anup insisted that she complete her college graduation. Atleast thats what he did till the positive sign appeared in the pregnancy test……
to be continued…
Mumbai brought down to its knees?
Posted by Kavitha Narayanan in Personal on December 1st, 2008
It was a regular day.. I woke up late, made a mental note that I should call my parents the next day to wish them on their Anniversary, skipped breakfast - was too lazy to make anything and finally took the auto from Kandivilli to reach office. I reached office and again had an unmemorable day, absolutely nothing that I can remember till about 6:45 PM on 11th July 2006.
A little before 7 PM my client Simon, a very nice man, catches me on Instant Messenger and asks me if all is well in Mumbai. Now, in all the time I worked with Simon I know him as a person who always has his facts clear, is pretty straight-forward and considerate. So obviously I knew something was wrong. Before even answering him I got up from my seat and fired a random question at my colleagues “You know guys; Simon is asking me if all is fine in Mumbai. Any idea why he is asking such a strange question?” One of them blurts out “He probably had a nightmare or well maybe a nice dream were we are all hijacked or something.” Another says “He probably is going to ask you to complete that impossible project after the usual courtesies” and well the jokes and ridiculous assumptions flowed in.
While all this usual office nonsense talk was happening someone logged into cnn.com and there it was the news flashing about the 11 minutes of hell, bomb blasts in the lifeline of Mumbai - the trains! We just couldn’t believe what we read, everything came to a stand-still and people frantically started calling their near and dear ones.
Obviously just when something goes wrong everything goes wrong and the phone lines were jammed as well. The next 30 minutes that we spent in office unable to reach people, traumatized by all that we read, uncertainty about who did and why they did it… was hell …as hell can be. At around 7:30 PM the office was officially closed and we were all asked to take the office bus home. We sat there waiting patiently in the bus while the guards went rounds in the office to ensure that everybody left. When the bus was just about to start the bus drivers let us know that it would probably take 2-3 hours to reach our destinations because the roads were blocked with the enormous traffic flowing in. The agonizingly slow journey back home started.
Staring at the crowded roads and the empty faces stuck in the traffic jams, I kept thinking to myself, “Why would somebody do this?”, “What the hell did he gain by killing innocent lives?”, “Did he escape?”, “Can he live with himself after what he did?”, “Did his parents or family know?”. And then something struck me…..something I can never forget. There were 1000’s of people stuck in traffic devastated and frustrated and with no way out. But there were 100’s more who were on the streets out of choice. These people were the residents of those areas coming out of their homes with biscuits, bread, water, chocolates and anything that can be served. They walked miles ensuring that they offered food and water to every single person stuck there and more importantly they ensured to have a bright smile when they did it. I couldn’t take my eyes of them and my mind has that scene pictured as freshly as I saw it yesterday. There were no news channels that covered them, not many people thanked them and nobody sponsored the food and water but they just did it. Where else in the world would this happen? I can vouch “NO WHERE”. People would have much rather preferred to stay in the comfort of their homes, watching TV, cribbing about the political status, cursing the terrorists and eating hot parathas (popcorn!)
I was touched in a way that I have never been. Who says Mumbai was brought down to its knees? Do they know Mumbai and have they seen it the way I have?
Mumbai is the city that gave me my first job,
Mumbai is the city that gave me my independence
Mumbai is the city that introduced me to my husband
Mumbai is the city that gave me some adorable friends
Mumbai is the city that has given so many things to so many people
Mumbai is the city that never sleeps
Mumbai is the city were life bounces back no matter how you try to stop it
Mumbai is so many things but it is not a city that takes defeat. With each attack Mumbai just grows stronger, better and more united.
It is extremely unfortunate that Mumbai gets beaten every time for no rhyme or reason and I am terribly sad and angry that were not able to prevent this. This time India should not let go and should punish the force behind these attacks.
PS: The next day after this unfortunate event my Mom manages to call me and I wished my parents “Happy Anniversary” after she gave a sigh of relief that we were safe. While putting the phone down I said “Mummy, I love you” and for the first time my mom responded back “I love you too”.
Say your Goodbyes
Posted by Kavitha Narayanan in JLT on November 8th, 2008
Hello All,
You know what inspired me to write this. I have suddenly had two of my near and dear ones quitting their job to move on to something different. I do it so very often that quitting a job for me is similar to partying (I mean, I dont do it so often but I dont miss doing it as well). I have never felt so attached to my job, yes I do 14-15 hours a day, I slog my butts off and I enjoy my job .. but no, ask me anyday to take an off for a month and I will gladly do it. (beyond that, the only compelling factor to get me back to work is my boredom ). So now you can all understand why it surprises me that people get so attached to their jobs. It’s like getting off a marriage (well, sometimes getting off marriages could be easier too but this is not the forum to discuss that).
I admire both of them for they way they took it.. No doubt it was an emotional thingie for them but they both handled it with such maturity that it surprises me. They had numerous gifts flowing in, people telling them how much they will be missed, volumes and volumes of people coming in for their farewells and in all sense of the word absolute show-time, but through all that they kept their sanity, patience and emotions at a normal level. Someone else I know would have cracked down at the very first goodbye email .. thats what you pay for being a weakling .. eMbarrasment!!
Now, what is it that makes people so attached to their jobs at an emotional level? I mean I understand someone being attached to your family, family never changes. but its so darn different with a job isnt it? You are working with someone today and the next day he quits (most of the times the feeling I have is… Thank GOD for sending the creepo out) or someone who meant so much to you at your workplace has moved on to a different office, project etc etc etc. Has anyone ever remained in the same job, same place, same desk and worked with the same people for more than 2 years? If you say yes, it is time you moved out of this dormant life of yours.
Here is a note on the people I work with now…a nutcase who never talks or says hi, a creepo who has never seen my face but keeps staring at the wrong places if we ever hit a conversation, a gal who will be so darn sweet if she needs something and ignore you if there is nothing you can offer, someone who makes it a point to tell you a zillion times how he is jealous of you for blaw blaw blaw, a madman who has his mood swings 3 times a week and lashes out on every one at those times .. and the list goes on. There are no doubts that I have some nice people working with me as well and some of my life long friends have been from my work places.
Ahhhhh!!! Now, that makes sense..Maybe both of them were just emotional about the people they were leaving and not the place?? Maybe in my case all the people I cared about had already moved out except for a few and thats what made it easier???? Maybe I knew that the people I leave behind will still remain my friends irrespective of where we work??? Dont know! What I do know is that a place (home or office) is made or broken by people and we all react differently while leaving friends and family behind.. But that is what makes us all so darn special. Emotions and how we show them!! Dont you agree?
So to all the friends I left behind with a smile.. its not cause I did not care, its because I know we will remain friends for ever!!!
Love you all!
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