We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun

Our cooler is not working and I am sweating like a pig. Reminds me of how dependent we have become on the cooler, here in the U.S, especially without pedestal fans. I have been running up and down trying to fix it, dreading how I am going to spend the night. I open the window, door, no change. Out of curiosity I login to the weather channel to see what the temperature is . It's 21 degreee celcius and thats the hottest it is going to get tonight. Out of curiosity again, I check the temperature in chennai /madurai . It s a whopping 37 degree celcius. I remember that heat. Madras used to be worse than Madurai. Madurai was scorching/burning hot whereas Madras used to be this sweaty sticky hot.

When we were kids and summer came I remember the whole new routine. Fruits were different- mangoes, watermelons, ice apples (nongu) would appear out of nowhere. Food was different - there ll be less frying and more kootu types. Best part was the dessert- rosemilk, milkshakes, lassi s , fresh juices, and elaneer ( thanks priyanka for the reminder).yummmm.

Our habits, sleeping styles would change.The whole family had an intra-house migration pattern. Everyone would compete for the cooler parts of the home. So we had to earn our cool spots. We did have AC . But that was only for our parents' room. It seemed mean then, but hey I am paying my electricitiy bills now, so it doesnt seem that mean now. Anyway, when summer came, it usually brought along exams. Annual exams. Studying was hard enough, leave alone studying in that hot room of ours( mine and my sister's). Most of these memories I am talking about, are after my sister left for college(hostel). So my regular study area was mottai maadi after sunset. I had my own cot and a chair in the terrace. We also had a kind of Mullai poo climber growing all over the beams in the sitout. The smell used to be brilliant. It was like a 100 scented candles around you. Around five thirty in the evening, my maid (& thozhi) Selvi and I used to go upstairs. She d bring a bucket and a mug. There was a tap upstairs. My job was to sprinkle water throughout the terrace and her job was to pluck the flowers ( poo parikradhuku vera better english yaarukavdhu therinja pls let me know. am not happy with picking/plucking ). It was amazing how the hot concrete would suck up the water so quickly, I d be sprinkling water over and over again and be amused at how it would disappear. I d then sprinkle extra water over the roof of my room not knowing it wouldnt help much.
Then Selvi would sit right next to my wire cot and threading the flowers she had picked, keeping me company I thought then. But only later did I realize that she was actually sitting there to make sure I studied and didnt fall asleep.

And then after a couple of hours of studying/arattaying with Selvi/ star gazing, I d go down for dinner and come back upstairs, collect all my books and go down to continue studying in my room which would have cooled down by then. This was a ritual every year.The first year it was just me, cos all other kids in the neighbourhood were too small to be studying alone or even studying!. But the subsequent years,
at around sunset, all kids in the neighbourhood, even accompanied by parents started assembling in their respective terraces. I felt proud/annoyed that people were copying me. We then started having these mottaimadi - mottaimaadi conversations about exams and when they were getting over.
After a few years, our room also got an a.c, but the ritual continued because we were conserving electricity - so only our parents would have their AC on. So sometimes I d end up sleeping in their room cos the only other choice I had was- to end up getting baked in my room.

Scorching heat, insatiable thirst, sweaty nights, sweatier days, endless summer - its all the same now, the difference is- we had fun then. To be continued..

Jeyam Kondaan- not a movie review

This is not a movie review, although it was a decent movie. Not bad. The part that I hated is the fact that they make the heroine speak awfullllllll thamizh , calling it Madurai thamizh. Is that what is perceived as madurai thamizh? I dont think so.

I would love to storm off this post with a strong and intense thamizh poem . But cant think of anything right now. But I am deeply hurt. Madurai thamizh is not what they show in the movie!

Homecoming part 2

Well well well. If you guys are wondering what took me so long to write home coming part 2- well I ve been busy and the real reason is that I was waiting for the second India going season- Dec- Jan. If you are that big a fan of my blog, u ll remember the first part was during summer.

Once the pampering , feeling on top of the world , limelight and the first week's excitement fades, the second week is the transition week. It s a luke warm week. Now these experiences may not be universal.. but you can kinda relate to it.Everyone wud ve had different versions of the same experience.You ll know what i mean.

You feel people are giving you a little more space. You get to go meet not so important friends who you didnt meet the first week. People start doing things other than just asking you about life in the U.S. . You feel weird but nice being vetti at home. Parents start going for work and you ll be left at home all by yourself not knowing what to do. So you end up gtalking till parents come back from work. Afternoons will be spent relishing the joy of dozing off watching Ktv movies and Sun tv serials and the paridhaabamana Raj tv, because the jetlag really hits only after 4 or 5 days. Once you get up at an odd 7 pm and have nice coffee in ever silver tumbler, you watch tv. You feel nice watching news and how they make even stupid things so sensational. But these are the precious times you missed here. The bliss of being vetti at home.

Then comes the third week . Now is when you get really bored . Bored enough to miss this hellhole.Its almost like Stockholm syndrome. This place actually grows on you!You are slightly looking forward to go back. This is the week where most of your meals are eaten outside home , with random uncles and aunties ( "family friends"- btw what does the word mean? are all the members in the familes friends with each other?) .You get sick of eating a full meal every meal. Pakkathu veetu aunties uncles invite u home and ask u for grad school advice fr their children. Im especially sorry for all u guys who went to India now- you would ve had the added trouble of people asking about the economy. One of my friends got continuously asked "Inime anga enna irku, vandhuda vendiyadhudhane" lol. lemme not digress.
And towards the end of the week people start asking you when you are leaving . Parents start asking what all you need to buy.Podis will be made. (Notice you would ve come with ipods - u ll leave with podi s . :) )random people will start asking you if you have space in your suitcase to take stuff for their sons/daughters/relatives/friends in "the U.S". They do not realise the country is freaking hugggggggge . But you still do it cos you don wanna say no.
The final week is when you are busy as hell. Shopping, packing, scheduling lunch times, dinenr times to say bye to people. I hate the airport. Its gloomy and depressing. When you disappear behind the security check walls, you take a look at your family and friends for the last time- the sad, gloomy faces in the depressing airport- you know that s the image thats going to linger on your mind until you coem back the next time. Its a disturbing image.
Its true you miss US but you also know you are going to miss India no matter which one you call as home. The grass is always greener on the other side.
You many notice that this post is nto as emphatic and fun to read as the Homecoming part I. I think thats because its been 6 months since I came back from India and I m missin the place already. I wrote this post because I had promised to do soand it was incomplete. I m definitely not in the mood to not miss home. Ooops! I called India as home this time! It is. Isnt it? I think , at this stage, my definition of home is - the place I miss. :)