Good Omen in the morning.

9 A.M. Today I got up with a bit of surprise, as my brother had already got up but was sitting on the bed, looking at my face.

Blinking, blinking he said, “Da, I’m hungry.. Gimme money, I will buy bread and come...”

Money? Ohh gosh.., the very word is dangerous…, it can haul your past and peel it again and again to find out that you, without money, are a big zero!

The word reminded me of the importance of the day, the last day, the final working day at EnableM, a place where I have been working since a couple of years…, a place from where I have grabbed friends for my life…., a place where I gave my flesh and blood for making dreams possible.

“Just swipe the card and come… See whether the pay is being credited or not”

EnableM is like that; it will never turn face against your monetary needs, but will make you wait for it. Just a little extra time!

The boy came back, looking down at his stomach. He put the print receipt on to my arms. “Not credited yet, sickos!” I felt guilty for taking a print of my zero balance and particularly more scared to think that the bank would even take action against printing null-balance receipts.

Today is my last working day here; bank balance is shamefully down, salary for the last month has not yet delivered to the account.

Last working day in an office! It’s not self-explanatory.

Office showed me a more caring face today. Like compensating my late-salary grievances. I found Neenad, the nunni at the gate itself, waving hands and calling out “Boy George”

Hmm, he calls me whatever he can; he just needs some alphabets and their phonetics. PS: Names come with gestures.

Amit Bhilare insisted me that I should meet him every day at my new office, nearby where he stays.

For the last time today, Ajit Nair reminded me of my duties to myself, from saving funds to pinging girls without investing my future!

The Brittannia biscuits brought to me by Jyotie tasted better today because she offered it too early as if she knew that I missed my breakfast! Crunch-crunch the lovely punch, “You gonna miss her”!

Aloha! My salary just got credited; the hungry boy called up right now as he went to swipe the card. At least he can have some decent food today. He might eat loads of Chinese food and have Sugarcane juice, his favorite.

EnableM did justice to me. Can there be a better “spare well”? I have done good to them, they’ve returned it.

I looked at Manish’s face. It was pretty “smilish” today. May be because his swollen lips have reduced to their normal looks after a horrible allergic week.

Comes here the last official mail; a mail that says Cheers and Thanks to all my friends here, probably something I always wanted to do over these times. Now is the right reason that is too strong to justify my urge.

B’bye all of you, you have been too good for me, and I have tried to match it. See you around, again!!

With people like Narendra Modi around, today we can’t help having that feeling of a Hindu or Muslim or Christian. They keep on reminding us through every word and action. Even if we don’t accept a label, they will try to inflict it upon us.

Without these people, assume how fruitful life would have been? I can remember an honest incident to take your attention for granted; an incident which taught us that you are not a Hindu nor a Christian but a human being.

Like every other Sunday, we had to go to church on this particular Sunday too. The kids had to reach the church early. The purpose of going so early was to attend the Sunday School, spirituality classes meant for the parish kids.

But we never.

What we went for was to attend another spiritual feast, namely Ramayana, a tele-serial used to be aired those days, exactly at the time of our Sunday School classes. Just beneath the church was this house, where we flocked to watch the serial.

Once the serial was over, we stepped in the Church.

Ohh… awaiting our arrival, there was someone standing in front of the Church, the priest, Father John. He had a stick in hand.

“Where were you? “

“There.” Our hands showed the house.

“Doing what?”

“Watching Ramayana”

“Then tell me who took the Ring as Keepsake of Sita and went to Lanka to console her?”

“Hmmm Hanuman”

“Good. Now go to Church.” He left the stick on the ground.

At the end of the Holy Mass, he asked all the kids to stand up. Then he told to the parents that from the coming Sunday onwards Sunday School would be one hour later after the serial got over.

Simple fun can bring serious danger. Listen to what had happened to my brother and sister when they were as young as flower buds.

On the terrace, I was helping my mother to dry her sari. Standing apart from each other, we held the sari just like in a tug-of-war. This is how we straighten the curved parts of the sari.

During this time, my sister came on to the fore followed by her ever-haunting brother. Playing ‘Police and Thief’ they were in no mood to look at what we were doing. The sari was kept against the little girl and she came backwards just to get entrapped in the sari and then fall backwards. There was no blockage to stop her and she fell down from the terrace to a depth of 30 feet.

The moments we took to regain the breaths can’t just be expressed through these words. The only sister, so small and pretty, but all seemed like a bad riddle.

In the meantime, some of the elders could nab the culprit, the mischievous boy, who was standing like a busted vase. One of them caught hold of him and awarded him with punishments.

He couldn’t just stand his emotions. He ran towards the canal flowing nearby. He wanted to end his life. A life without his sister was too unthinkable.

Manju, an elder sister of mine could act her nerves, and she grabbed the boy from jumping into the terrifying canal.

Fortune again felt mercy towards us, and the little girl was safe in the fluffy sand without an injury. [Though now she is rather injurious):]

Even today, this incident haunts us, but rather like a melodrama acted by two beloved actors the hero VINOD and the heroine PRABHA.

It’s too late to talk about Sreejith, one of my good friends. As he is a 3D animator, we’ve shortened his name to 3G.

He is a known figure among us for his natural blunders. Blessed with a lot of forgetfulness, he keeps on going and jumping into a lot of funny incidents, which regularly get us a laugh every time we gather.

I can’t help telling you one such incident, which constantly haunts me and makes me laugh and then cry due to laughter.

The day he had lost a rain jacket, I had asked him to take care of his belongings more carefully. But the next week, he again lost the new umbrella!

Since he was my roommate, I couldn’t help asking him where the umbrella was. He had no answers but a few doubts on how he would have lost it.

It could be in the crowded bus, as he would have kept it loose in hands while snoozing. Or it could be in the office as someone else could have taken it. It could be even at the railway station, while struggling to get into the second class compartment. He had no clear idea.

As usual, we went on teasing him.

A few weeks later, he came back with a little aggression on his face.

Uncompromisingly he said, “You dogs, I have got the umbrella back, it was in my bag itself… see it’s here….”

Laughter is now prohibited in my premises.

Lately I have discovered that Internet wouldn’t be that slow in my office, but could be too fast that it must have reached even beyond the current website and now trying to coming back!

Though the sites do not open as and when needed, this type of an observation should throw some relief to me.

Dear system administrator, are you listening?

Sitting behind me on Bike, Sajan said, ‘San, I feel very sleepy.. !’
I couldn’t help telling him this, ‘I too feel the same’
It seemed that he didn’t feel sleepy afterwards!

One man's sleep is another man's sleeplessness!!

I feel shy.

I have placed an order for a Rain Jacket on Sify Shopping. It took five days for them to deliver me a Winter Jacket.

I have again placed an order for a Rain Jacket on Rediff Shopping. It took around 15 days and today I received a raincoat worth of 50 bucks at Rs 300.

No explicit complaints!

NET. Never Ever Try Shopping.

Podimon was born when his elder brother was 18.

He was the youngest member of his family and the biggest in terms of the love he used to get from others.

If you are the youngest in your family, you would know this, the love and the love bites as well!

He was now 6 years old. After the yearlong toil, his Chacha was going to come home on a vacation.

Podimon was at the end of his patience rope. His eyes were about to jump out of their lids as he kept on looking up above the sky, waiting for his Chacha’s airplane to fly by! Minutes grown to hours but Podimon was not yet tired of waiting!

Suddenly he saw something in the sky, roughly like an airplane. To get a clearer view of it Podimon climbed the nearby tree, with his eyes above head. Yes!! It’s an airplane, Podimon had felt goosebumps! ‘Chachaaaaaaaaaaa!, he yelled in glee, raising both the hands to the plane! He lost his balance and fell down as gravity played its role without fail!

When Chacha came, Podimon welcomed him with his little hands, but broken and plastered! In sweet voice he asked, ‘Chacha did you hear me calling you’?

Realizing what had happened, his elder brother said, ‘Yes, of course, I was also shouting at you, but you weren’t listening’

Kottayam is known as the Cultural Center of Kerala. But when you are there, if you don’t take ultra care of your valuables, you might say the contrary.

Yes, some times things are boasted above what’s it actually. May be to make money, or just to make some noise.

In my dreams, Kottayam has always been a lurid land of nightmares. Once upon a time, it had me in tears and fears.

After degree, I have planned to take advertising as my career stream. I have found an institution in Coimbatore offering PG in Advertising and was on my way to get admission there. I was with my Dad.

Till Kottayam, my briefcase was there in the rack of the bus. But when the bus reached the station at Kottayam, the Briefcase was found missing and replaced by another empty one.

I felt sweat on my palms! My Dad was almost mad! Who took the briefcase? It had contained a better deal of me! All my certificates, diaries, money and almost everything that I had been valuing till that date…

The police hub was found almost empty but more disappointing was the way the one cop was reacting. With a needless smile, he had poured in our details into his casebook and asked us to leave the place as soon as possible. He told us that incidents like this are very common in Kottayam and it would be ideal if the passengers could take care of their valuables. Advice, the most commonly available remedy to your disasters!!!

‘Where to go now?’ thoughts popped up as we have realized that there was no money left in the pockets.

A father and son, belonged to values, prestige and hopes, are now made beggars in a town, the cultural center!

The last pocket of my multi-sachet-pants had some hopes for me. Two hundred bucks given by my grandmother was in it, like a green in the desert.

With the remaining shock in mind, we left the place.

Till today, at least in my most eccentric dreams, I have hoped for the return of my Hard Earned certificates from a Mr. Gentleman… who would have mistakenly took away my briefcase and my scopes!!

My Dad says that the person would have completed his never-dreamt-about professional course and now working in any of the top companies! Another Santhosh George Wilson!!

There is a great spirit for the people of Mumbai, which can be seen nowhere else in the world; the spirit of harmony especially between communities and beliefs.

I have got gladdened after remembering an incident happened last year...

As usual, Sri Ganesh Chaturthi and Mother Mary Feast came together. Above these two, there was a celebration of unanimity between the two communities.

As the Church of Mother Mary and Temple of Lord Ganesh are situated nose-to-nose, believers of both stood close to each other, facing their respective divinities. But what has surprised me is that, whenever there was an open prayer in the Church, the temple loudspeakers would be shut down so that there wouldn't be any clash. In the same way, the churchgoers would soon finish their open prayers so that the others could continue their hymns through loudspeakers. This used to happen several times a day and most surprisingly, without any prior agreement!

It was really a feast to the 'socialheart'

And whenever the prayers happened to be uttered in both the shrines at the same time, what came out was an amalgamated, inexplicable blend of devotion...may be something the God really understands...

‘Where are you going?’ This one question made me laugh a lot coz, it’s me who had asked this question to a friend when I met him inside a ‘theatre’.

No comments, please.

Shobha weds Ashok, the gatepost read!

While passing this ceremonious entrance of that wedding reception with my friend Joseph, I barely had thoughts about writing this story in a blog like this.

Some things are like pickling. You would salt them away in memories, and when recollect later, they would put in more sense to your contemporary life.

When you are hungry, you won’t essentially do any adventures. But when you don’t have funds to buy your food, you might be forced to carry out some adventures to fill your stomach. Like attending a wedding! Attending a wedding is auspicious! But attending it without an invitation can be suspicious! And that will be very adventurous too.

Joseph looked like a gentleman among the reputable folks there, like a one with loads of responsibilities to bear in the function. I just tried to stand beside him and make my presence clear of doubts and glaring eyes.

He performed well, ran here and there, passed on messages, delegated orders, cracked jokes with seniors, and even helped the bride’s father to arrange the folks in line.

After this, he had also posed for photographs with the newly wed couple. The bride as well as the bridegroom smiled and shook hands with him! His face looked broadened with a smile. (Did he try to taunt the bride in between? I don’t remember now!)

By the time, I could realize the secret behind his Oscar-sizeable performance! The bride’s men would have thought that he was from the bridegroom’s side and the bridegroom’s party would have thought vice versa too.

The functions were over, and now it was time for our grand dinner. Wine and dine in a nice shining night! We consumed the day’s food altogether.

I remember Joseph, scolding the wine-server for making the guests waiting for a little longer on the cozy seats!

I'm a Manager. I'm Managing, A MAN who is AGING!

Kerala is a great place. But I must say that this greatness is only in its looks and not in its contemporary mores. As days grow, the people in Kerala are becoming more and more insane and insolent. They will just meddle into and screw your glitter of life. When people have no job except some smutty dissolute politics, you can’t expect any good instincts from them other than fraudulence and criminality. Luck or not, the world is yet more or less unknown about these dissolutions.

As a Keralite, I have inexplicable disappointment in this heavy truth. But truth is always bitter, I grasp.

One of my recent experiences had matched this gloomy fact and affirmed it without qualms.

I had gone to Kerala during last Easter. It was a nice time out as the stress of jobs and strain of ‘daily living’ had surrendered to a kind of enticing calmness. With my brother and two other friends I went to the nearest town, Punalur, for a movie. We were in bikes and had to park the bikes in a shed nearby the theatre. The shed was the part of a tourist bungalow lying close to it.

Once the movie got over we came back to the bikes but what we could find was awfully nasty that the bikes’ tyres were punctured, mirrors broken and fuel dripped out. Being furious, we had no other way but to question the guard in duty of the Bungalow. He was heavily drunk and was in a bad mood. When he denied answering we could estimate that none other than him did the crime. Being a Law Student and furthermore branded for being very instinctive, my brother had created a scene over there. He pointed out the nifty sections of the law like a priest reciting the preludes of verses!

Finally the man told us that the police had done those misdemeanors because it was non-parking area. He also claimed to have paid five hundred bucks to the police for the carelessness from his side.

My brother was at the end of his patience. He slapped the guard on the spot, as it was clear that he was lying.

By this time, somebody had called the police. ‘Drunkards attacking a guard’, police rushed in with necessary set up to offer all of us a night’s stay in the lockup.

Seeing police coming, the guard got charged up! Vengeful in mind, the over-smart guard took hold of my collar and tried to hit me with his knees. Caught on the spot for this misbehavior, the guard too was taken to the police custody.

From then till reaching the police station, it was a rain of all bad words in the language, a special talent that our policemen can boast of!

“Lock up! Oh my god, this is the first time I’m coming to a police station! That too, like a criminal! Beaten up and abused! My little brother, my friends, my pride, my self-respect , I am going to see all this agony?” I never wanted to argue with that foolish guard, I never wanted to question my bike’s damages, I never wanted to park my bike there, I never wanted to come for that movie... but no use now!

The policemen asked us to remove our shirts and shoes. My brother, who couldn’t digest what was really going on, opened his lawful mouth yet again, but to get beaten up again. My self-belief couldn’t prevent the brook of tears from flowing alongside the cheeks and falling down like a tap kept open. I cried in heart like a child.

From here, the things were not very awful as we expected. All of us were taken to the hospital for medical tests to find out whether drunk or not and this had saved us! It was found that we were normal but the guard, who too was taken for the tests, was drunk extremely.

Later we told the police that the guard had accused the police of doing the crime of damaging the bikes. Hearing this, the police rage has amplified against him and he got further charges.

See! Someone just intrudes into your life, makes it unhappiest and then gets himself in peril!

By this time, our poor dad had arrived there, with all his nerves arrested like frozen. He was neither angry nor sad. He had no emotions.

Because he wanted his sons to be conscientious and proactive always, though he never wanted to meet them in a police station in such a condition!

We lied to him that they didn’t beat us!

'Passive Voice’ is not about being passive in life. It’s just about writing passive sentences in English Grammar.
The teacher was busy giving lectures on ‘Passive Voice’ & ‘Active Voice’ Thus she asked me to write the passive voice of the sentence ‘I made a mistake’. Like now, even then I was very impulsive in my reactions.

I got up and said, ‘I was made by a mistake’. The teacher looked at me awkwardly.

Like agreed with me, my friend, who was sitting near me stood up and said … ‘I think he is right'

What do you say, was I right or wrong?

Love Nibbles, when you know that she loves you too, but not ready to disclose it to each other so easily.

But I feel, this is the most charming moment in one’s Love life. Only eyes speak the tender tongue, the rhythm of Love.

Eyes do sparklers in the hearts. It speaks, it hugs and it says, I LOVE YOU.

When you are in this time of your life, you will really feel that everything that she does reciprocates to what you do and feel. Her passions become yours, your smile becomes hers and your world unifies to become a lone and lovely one.

But of course, if she doesn’t smile, you will feel really bad!

One of my friends revealed that he had been saving important documents in Recycle Bin and it was now he realized that those files got deleted from there.

At first he thought it was some Recycle Gin!

I told him that it was a Recycle Sin!