Why Timmy wouldn't get you a Bangalore sim

'Um....I don't think i have my liscence with me.'That was me with the usual sheepish smile on my face when i kinda forget or lose things.

My parents didnt seem to be quite amused with that statement of mine.After the wonderful experience of getting a cupboard at Marianville,(described in detail here) we were going back to my cousin Jimmy and Timmy's place .I was supposed to get a new sim for myself so that i won't make my dad poorer than he should be.

After the usual talk on how careless I am, blah,blah blah and repeating it in front of Bobby Vellyappan, Maries Velliamma ,Jimmy and Timmy, a magical solution was found for this apocalyptic problem- get one of my cousins to get a sim for me.And the lucky person was Timmy.

He's my age,a nice sweet person,recently graduated as an engineer and who is ,by my standards, quiet. I've never seen him violent or angry. Ever.His final year exams were approaching and he was supposed to stay indoors ar all hours and learn.Now dear cousin Timmy went out and got me a new sim.

Which resulted in-

7 Am:"Get up! it's 7 already! you have to reach your office by 9:30!'

(I know Amma. I have this thingy called an 'alarm' in my phone which I have set so that I can get up when I want.)

9:15AM:"have you started walking to the office? Is there a lot of traffic? Do you remember the way? are there people walking ?Are you about to reach? Are you sure you are on the right way?"

(No, I'm still thinking if i should stay and reply to your questions or get to the office on the first day before time and create an impression. )

1:00 PM: 'Is it your lunch break?What have you got for lunch?Did you buy a pickle bottle yet?Don't go out of the office,just stay there even if the break is long,Okay?'

(yeah,yeah,right.I'll surely stay put when there's a pani puri ,pink guava and lots of other things beckoning my tastebuds to wash away the hostel food)

5:30PM:'Is it over?No? It will get over soon, right? I mean before it is dark?'

(Sure.The main concern of everybody at Draft FCB+Ulka,Bangalore is to ensure that I reach back at Marian Ville before dark.)

6:30PM:'How much longer would you have to stay there? Tell them that your hostel is strict and won't let you in after 7.'

(Ofcourse.That is exactly what i would do on my first day-ask them to leave me early. )

8:00PM:'Are you back? No? It must be really dark ,right? You sure you are on the right road? There are people on the road ,na?Like, don't walk through deserted alleys, Okay?'

(Fine.Fine! And I can cross the road if you would just stop eating my ears.)

9:00PM'Did you have dinner? What was there?"

(Amma.I.Am.Just.Too.Tired.)

11:00PM:'Sleep early, na? You have to wake up tomorrow at 7! Want me to call you?'

(No.But you are not going to 'Not call' ,are you?)

Since my phone connected me with the rest of the world, i had to fight the urge of flushing it down the toilet. But thankfully the no. of calls per day drastically reduced after i lost my temper once and said i won't pick up if there's more than ONE or a maximum of TWO calls a day.

A couple of days later ,i was happily working away on my comp at the office when the phone rang.

'Hello?'

'Hello.May I speak to Mr Rohit?'

Rohit? Oh Timmy! For a fraction of a second i was lost coz i had forgotten Timmy's real name.

'I'm sorry,he's not available right now.Who is this?'

'This is from Airtel, Ma'am. We are calling for the verification process of this number.This is Mr Rohit's number,right?'

'Yes,Yes.I am his sister.'

'What is your address,Ma'am?

well...Jimmy and Timmy lived at Horamavu....

'Horamavu'

'The complete address please.'

'I....I just moved into Bangalore recently...I dont...'

'Ma'am can you tell me your father's name?'

That was easy.

'Bobby'

'Full name please'

Gulp. What was his full name? I call him Bobby Velliappan.Lemme guess...

'um....Bobby Emmatty?'

'Ma'am, I'm sorry,but we have to cancel the connection to this-'

'No, Bobby J Emmatty!'

'Sorry, Ma'am, we'll have to cancel the connection. Kindly contact the customer care.'

'Bobby James Emmatty?'

'Ma'am I have to hang up now.Please contact the customer care.'

Darn. Why the hell did i pick up. And what a great call that was- claiming to be Rohit Bobby's sister without knowing Bobby's full name? Well done, Resh.

Timmy wasn't picking up his phone, but Jimmy was online then and i explained how my mom would die of heart attack if she wouldnt be able to talk to me.Jimmy said that Timmy should be in some class or learning something. After a while, i got through to Timmy.

The poor chap had to leave his books go to the Airtel customer care and fix things for me when he should have been earnestly learning.

My internship was over and I was enjoying the last weekend at Bangalore with an assortment of friends- Shibu,his junior ,Jo and cousin Nitin.While coming back from Amoeba,I just looked around my camera bag for my phone and I couldnt feel it. No amount of frantic search in/out that place could find it and i sadly realized that my phone has also entered the long list of things I'd lost recently,including 4 umbrellas and one sim.(the stars hadn't revealed yet that one more umbrella would be lost and that i would jump into a swimming pool with the new phone i was going to buy).

The sad news had to be broken to my folks who'd be coming to B'lore the next day.So i called up Amma from Nitin's phone.

'You lost your phone now????What were you thinking?How could you lose your phone???Now how will i get to meet and everything else? Silly Idiot!'

Nitin had to part with his phone for the night so that my mom could sleep peacefully during her busride to Bangalore.

Now dear Timmy, who was supposed to learn for his exams, who was not permitted to wander around with Nitin and me because of the exam, had to take away a few hours of his precious time trying to cancel the number-

'What was the last call made from this number?'

'I don't know...It was with my sister'

'What was the duration of your last call?'

'@#$%%^6^77'

From what i've heard, Timmy lost his cool completely and swore that he would not offer to buy a sim for any living soul on this planet.And though i caused him to lose out on many many hours,he's finally an engineer now :)

Sandra

‘Such a cute baby!’

‘She’s got gray eyes….lovely’

‘So fair!’

Every one showered compliments on the new born baby. And yes, she deserved it all. Fairer than all her cousins and sister. A light brown mop on her head unlike the usual jet black. And to top it all, she had beautiful blue grey eyes. A lovely little thing indeed. But as she was being praised and cuddled, standing aloof was Sandra. Her 5 year old big sister.

Sandra was excited about having a baby brother or sister. She was too glad to know it was a baby sister. But when she actually saw the little baby and how others seemed to be paying all their attention to her, Sandra felt alone. She was the youngest little girl of the family till then. She wasn’t exceptionally pretty like her little sister, but she was cute in her own way. Fair, like her mom, nice straight hair, loved to doodle about with paint. She never talked too much. But she was happy in her own quiet way.

*****

Megha grew up from the little bundle in wraps to the cute little toddler. She was curious about anything and everything around her-especially Sandra’s things. If Sandra was reading a book, Megha wanted it. If Sandra was painting, Megha wanted the colours. And since Megha had the wonderful habit of pulling all those things apart, Sandra stopped getting nice new things- ‘Megha would pull it apart’ was the reason always.

*****

Cousin Mariam was goofy. Or so everyone in the family said. The late teen always hung around with guys, threw huge tantrums to get her own way even in front of people-relatives and strangers alike, wore clothes which most of the family never approved of…And she was into music. No, she didn’t play the drums, but the violin. Recently she bought a new violin coz her older one was child sized. Which Sandra was dreaming to use.

‘Your new violin is nice, Mariam.’

‘Thanks Sandra. I love it. You like music too, right? ‘

Sandra nodded.

‘Don’t they teach you instruments at school?’

“No, Mariam. After your batch passed out of school they stopped it.’

‘Oh. That’s bad.’

‘What instrument do you like?’

‘The violin.’

‘You idiot! Take my old violin and learn something! My music class is near your place. Go there.’

‘I’d like to, but mom won’t let me.’

‘Why?’

‘Megha’ll tear anything I own apart.’

‘Oh. I know. I’ve been through the same thing till Ben grew up. What am I saying? That idiot still makes my life a wreck.’

‘Will you talk to my dad and mom?’

Of course, the family goofball talked to Sandra’s parents, but they didn’t take her seriously. After all, they were ‘grown-ups’. They knew how to deal with things. And Sandra was their daughter, wasn’t she?

*****

Megha joined school. Same as Sandra’s. But Megha was not going to be the goody goody like Sandra. Sandra knew she was not allowed to take part in the school performances as they charged you for the costume. She never signed up, though she always wanted to. She never fought with her classmates coz her parents wouldn’t approve of it. She never threw a tantrum to get her favorite food packed in her lunch box.

And Megha was just the opposite. She signed up for every event in class. She was made to stand outside the class everyday either for talking continuously or for beating up other kids in the class. She always made mom pack her favorite food in her tiffin.

And when Megha got away by being the naughty little squirt whom everyone adored, Sandra felt hurt. Was it her fault that she tried to obey her parents? Wasn’t she being good? Then why are they still happy with Megha?

Sandra watched the family soaps with her grand mom. The harsh dialoges and actions struck her. People hitting each other, people leaving their homes, the words, all that

*****

‘Need that’ demanded Megha

‘That’s mine. You’ll destroy It.’said Sandra. She started going red and her voice started cracking already. For she knew where this would lead to. Megha would cry, mom would come and her favorite hairclip would be tattered. And no one cared, did they. They’ll just say it is a little clip. But it was her favorite.

‘Need clip NOW!’ shouted Megha. And then started to wail loudly. Until their mom came.

‘Sandra? Why is Megha crying?’

‘She wants my clip.’

‘So just give it to her! Grand ma is sleeping, can’t you see? She’ll wake her up.’

‘But she’ll break it…’

“Look, I bought you that clip, didn’t i? Just give it to her. She’ll leave it after a while.’

‘I’m going away.’

‘What?’

‘I’m leaving this house where I’m not loved.’

‘Wow. Which serial dialogue is that?’ there was a hint of laughter in mom’s voice.

In the serial, when this was told, everyone was shocked and asked the character not to leave. They loved her. No one loves me here.

It only hurt and enraged Sandra when her mom told her granny, dad and aunts about her talking ‘serial dialogues’. They all laughed.

*****

“Hello? Is this Megha’s mom?’

‘Yes. Who is this?’

“This is Megha’s class teacher. Looks like Megha missed the school van. Can you come over and pick her up?’

“I’ll be there soon. Thank you Miss Elizabeth.’

When Megha and Mom reached back home, Sandra wasn’t there yet. And the calls to the school, her teacher and the school bus driver didn’t help.

“Where’s my baby? I need my girl now. Find her, Joseph……..’ Mom was inconsolable. Everyone was worried. All were out looking for her.

Sandra never knew that her mom loved her as much as she loved Megha. And her mom never knew how much it hurt her when Megha seemed to be getting more attention. Mom knew Sandra wanted to learn the Violin, that she wanted to participate in the school functions…she thought she wouldn’t be able to manage all that as Megha would take up a lot of time…but now she wished she had.

It didn’t matter now anyway. Sandra was lying unconscious on the back seat of an unknown car, off to an unknown destination.

ON GIFTS

I just found that there are three ways in which people give you gifts. May be their age affects the way they do it...

'Congrats, dear!'

'Thanks,mema'

'Buy anything you want with it, okay?'

'Wow! thanks!'

Reena mema, my mom's youngest sister gave me a crisp 1000 ruppee note.

'Congrats, dear!'

'Thanks, mema'

'You know what, i think you should get a nice new watch before you start your new college.'

'Oh. Right.'

'Maybe something like a fastrack'

'Fast what?'

'I'll give you 1000 ruppees for that. '

'Okay.'

Another 1000 ruppee, this one from my mother's younger sister, Meena. But this would have to be converted into a watch for me to actually own.

'Amma, why are there two jeans on the counter, i had taken only one?'

'Oh, that's for your brother.'

'um...he could wear jeans of my size untill he expanded around his middle. Are those for me?'

No reply.

'I don't like that gray.'

'What? I thought you liked it because you were looking at it a lot...and you don't have one of that shade... and i like that one...'

'You know, if you are getting something for me, please ask me if i want it, okay?'

But that's something she never does.

Getting money as gift is cool. You could do anything with it. You can convert it into anything you like. People who knows nothing about your likes and dislikes could find it easier. But sometimes it lacks a little something that it would have had, if it was a litlle gift in someother form than a piece of paper.

Some people care enough to know about the things you have / not, the things you ought to have/ or not etc etc etc. They don't want you to just spend your money on unnecessary things. It could get on your nerves too, coz, you might want something else at the moment.

Getting things for you without asking you if you want it or need it is reserved especially for a specific category of people called mothers. (Mostly. Maybe there are others too) They may not care that you have grown out of pink craze or the Barbie craze. They just get things because they like it, or 'I never had all this at your age' syndrome. And when you want something they just say that they've already got you everything you need, what more could you want.

Ah...it's all quite complex. Anyways, though i said i don't like that gray, it's pretty okay. Kuttis (Meena) mema's offer was duely converted into a black and red Fastrack. Reena mema's gift is saved for various crazy things i want to do.

'

"WELCOME TO OOTTY, NICE TO MEET YOU"

Another Ootty trip. The twenty third Ootty trip together by my parents. Guess i'd gone there every year of my life except one. Going to Ootty might mean enjoying the scenic beauty, going to all those tourist spots etc etc to most people. But for us, it revolves around a few hotels. Especially certain dishes. Just like there's a 'Way of the Cross' thingy , our Ootty trip has certain fixed stations.

1. THE CHAPEL NEXT TO THE CHURCH

The journey begins with a quickie prayer (Lord, let the food at Shinkows be as tasety as ever, Lord please change the cook at Lake View)

2. ARAM MOTEL, WALAYAR

This is the stop for breakfast( Appam and Egg curry. I eat mostly nothing here, but open a bag of Lay's)

3.SOME HOTEL WHICH CHANGES NAME EVERY YEAR, METTUPALAYAM

Mostly for loo purpose, but we also buy a bottle of coke

4. A LITTLE TEASTALL /PHONEBOOTH PLACE AFTER THE HAIRPIN BENDS, COONOOR

A call to Daddy and Mammy to tell we've reached this far. We've got three mobile phones in the car, but this is the tradition

5. AAVIN MILK BOOTH, OOTTY

We load the car with flavoured milk. For the past two years they have only three flavours- Stawberry, Pista and Cardomom. I miss chocolate.

6. HOTEL NAHAR

The first meal of the trip is always vegetarian. (stupid tradition. But Higgin Bothams is opposite to Nahar, so i'll get a couple of books, so it's fine.)

7. HOTEL LAKEVIEW

Home-Sweet-Home. This is where we stay for three days every year. (We get twenty percent discount coz its been over two decades that my parents started coming here) . Cottage number 6, 7, 8 or nine. Only in exceptional cases do we get cottages other than these. like this year- it was awkward going to cottage 26.

8. HOTEL SHINKOWS

We discovered this lovely little hotel at charring cross only a few years back...great chinese food. Especially the sweet and sour chicken, chicken in hot garlic sauce and chilly chicken. Everything else is good too. There used to be a big white doggie sleeping in front of it until a couple of years back.

9.CAFE' COFFEE DAY

This is a relatively new entrant to our otherwise 'usual' list. The price of every item goes up by twenty ruppees every year. Love Devil's own and Cafe' Frappe.

This years trip had a lot of unusual elements to it. Starting from the fact that we got Cottage number 26- that's not in the lowest level next to the playground... How sad! And our Car had some problem and we had a long walk to Shinkows. There was no trip to the boat house this time. But there was something else much better- a mountain bike ride thingy. Hero cycles has made a course using log bridges, platforms, slopes, stuff that sink beneath the ground when you ride over it etc etc etc. It was fun putting on the helmet, arm guard, knee guard and all that(dressing up like a warrior) and riding it out. My brother chickened out and didn't do this- so much for his 'male superiority' thingy. Go- karting was on this year.

Ootty happened so fast this year. I couldn't complete even one book that i had bought.(so i had to buy an archies coz i had to finish something!) Will miss reading by the fireplace,(with a bottle of flavoured milk, a bag of lay's and assorted chocolates near my hand's reach) which is one thing i really like in the annual ritual for two years i guess.