IYER POEM.. A time line of an Iyer life!!

Age: 6 Months
All these mamas and maamis have come here...
For a grand welcome of their new born fellow Iyer...
And my parents will feed food to me with a ring...
And give me a name long enough for you to sing...
(Krishnamurthy Venkataraghava Krishna Doraiswamy,
but will simply call me Dorai!)

Age: 10 years
Topping my class is an inborn talent I possess
(We are an exception)
Teachers & relatives, whom I never fail to impress
Daily dosage of idli, dosai, sambar, rice and curd
Who on earth do you think will not turn into a nerd! (hehe)

Age: 22 Yrs
(Just after graduation.. . preferably Electronics Engineering)
Yipeee Yipeee Yipeee... I completed my BE in IIT...
Also got a call from Infy... Ya right...Narayana Murthy...
( Proud fellow...Southie ! )
Up & Away to Bangalore by the next morning flight...
And then someday to USA... Yay Yay Yay... Onsite. ..
(You are right... rhyming no?!)

Age: 26 Years
(Single status in USA)
It has been four long years since I have come here...
And not a single girl who is ready to come near...
Here in United States, I thought I'd get laid...
Down came crashing, all dreams that I'd made...

Age: 30 Years
(8 yrs Onsite, somewhere in USA)
I miss my sambhar rice and the tasty thair saadam (curd rice)
Will speak to amma to find me a homely madam...
Will leave for Thirunelveli on a 30 day leave...
And come back with a maami right up my sleeve...

Age: 45 Years
(Still onsite, we think)
I have two kids, but there is a gripping fear...
Both of them have no signs of being an Iyer...
Krishnaswamy & Sreemaha*lakshmi* I named them fondly...
But Chris & Sally I call them if I want them to even reply...

Age: 60 Years
(retire hogaya baap)
I am back to Thirunelveli with my ever faithful wife...
But my kids stayed there and think I don't have a life...
Tirupati, Guruvayoor, Shabarimala all we've been to...
Sun TV is our faithful friend which we always turn to...

Age: 75 years
(Now everything seems impossible)
Ayyayyo, what happened to all my dreams?
They have all simply turned into screams.
Children have already married and divorced thrice,
Playing with our grandchildren would've been nice.
Left with us are only aches and pains,
Life is full of only losses, with no gains.
Are we going to be the last of the brilliant Iyer generation?
To our chidren, tradition and culture are only a botheration!

Best regards
A Tamil Brahmin Iyer!!


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Note: This is not my original poem. I came across this while browsing and putting the same on my blog so I can read and have a good laugh when ever I feel like it.
The original poem link: http://www.indusladies.com/forums/poems-and-poets-place/27840-iyer-poem-time-line-iyer.html

Nostalgia..

I was driving back home from JP Nagar last weekend when a surprising memory of my childhood came in a flash.

Some folks were probably relocating to a new house I suppose; a van in front of me was taking all their house furniture and other stuff. The sofa set was upturned and I could even see a writing table, few chairs, bureaus and many pieces of furniture. On top of that upturned sofa, they had placed a few rolled mattresses and two small boy aged around 8-10 yrs were excitedly sitting on it. The ear to ear grin oozed excitement but they smiled in embarrassment when someone looked at them. They seemed so proud that they were going in van, along with furniture; as if it’s something never done before.

I suddenly went back to the early 90s when I, along with a few cousins of mine, was in Mysore for the summer holidays and an elder cousin’s wedding. I remembered how 5-6 of us helped loading a van with vegetables and grocery stuff required for the wedding, and how all of us got in and hitchhiked a ride to the choultry that was barely 10 min away. I faintly remember an elder cousin brother shouting “Collection aitha, Govinda??” and all of us, the younger kids, screaming in unison, “Gooooovinda”.. And something like “Madve mane bantha, Govinda??” “Gooooovindaaa”.. Lol!!

The glee on those boys’ faces brought back this long forgotten memory and I laughed. My mom, who was beside me asked what happened and when I recounted the sweet childhood memory, she laughed too reminding me of few other things that happened during that wedding.

Apparently, I’d gotten close to another little girl of my age at the wedding and we were inseperable. When the muhurtham was over and the families were busy teasing the bride and the groom at the “bhoomada oota”, this friend of mine and I were busy blushing in embarrassment when the groom fed his bride. We even sniggered and covered our mouths when the bride fed her groom.

(This was sadly covered on video and to my utmost disbelief, shown around at a recent family get-together!!)

Another incident was sometime that very evening. My cousin, the bride was getting ready for the reception and the discarded garlands she and her groom wore earlier that morning were lying on a chair. This little friend of mine and me, it seems, took turns to sport those huge heavy garlands and go all round the choultry, puffing with pride when spotted by any adult!!

Aaah, the lovely childhood days.. :)

What if...

1. What if you lose your vision (not eye sight) in the hustle bustle of everyday life?
2. What if all the moral premises you held sacred are actually pointless?
3. What if every valued relation you trusted are actually farces?
4. What if you start dreading those few lonely minutes every night (just before falling asleep) because the silence of the hour accuses you of sinking into mediocrity?
5. What if you get into that monstrous lethargy where even the very act of wanting something requires effort?
6. What if everything you are doing is because it is expected of you, and not because you want to do it?
7. What if you realize you are not living, but just biding time with every passing minute?
8. What if there is no tomorrow?

The most romantic gesture ever...

One of my aunts was ill recently. After the regular tests, the docs found out that she is now a border-line diabetic. She has been advised to cut down on carbohydrate intake, exercise moderately and is starting with medication soon.

My aunt apparently is a huge foodie. She enjoys good food and never misses a single festivity anywhere. She is one of the favorites in the family, known for her wise cracks, witty remarks and incomparable knack of imitating people. She always has us in splits when narrating funny anecdotes from her heydays.

Diabetes does not deserve a second thought these days. But my aunt was depressed and very unhappy with the new changes she was required to adopt, and that made it seem like something severe.

After the reports came, my uncle (her husband) gave up sugar. He now prefers sugarless coffee/tea and has drastically cut down on sweets. He goes on long walks with her everyday where (he confessed this) they talk about their time together so far, about the trials and tribulations they have faced together, their promotion in life from being a newly wed couple to becoming parents, to parents-in-law and grandparents recently.

Out of curiosity, I could not help asking my uncle what he feels when people around tease him for treating his wife like a new bride even after thirty plus years of marriage. His answer was a sweet smile, all he said was, “you will understand as you grow up.”

Somehow I knew I’d witnessed the most subtle and yet, the most romantic gesture ever.

On green gold...

Unlike most days, I decided to come to office with a friend in car yesterday. We followed our usual bus route through Mysore Road to E-City via flyover and Corporation, and I don’t know how I’d missed it before; maybe I would be blissfully asleep in the bus every day. Something seemed amiss as we neared Gopalan Mall in Mysore road yesterday morning. It looked too bright and oddly sunny. It took a minute for the horror to sink in. The huge trees on either side of Mysore road have been felled for the purpose of road widening!! There is an empty patch just opposite Gopalan mall where a lonely peepal tree still stands, probably thinking the clichéd “mera number kab aayega??”

The gravity of the situation was suddenly and glaringly obvious. Is there no alternative to felling mammoth trees for road broadening purpose? We are aware of the effects on deforestation. Global warming and greenhouse effect are spoken about in every second home. And we allow indiscriminate felling in the name of progress. Are we really going to let matters pass till they are totally out of hand? As I waited for my wave of nausea to abate, I was starting to see what disgusting hypocrites we have become.

We feel hurt when someone close to us is hurt. We feel miserable when our pets fall ill. We very well know plants and trees have life too. Why can’t we feel anything when these precious trees are chopped down? Is it because they are mute and immobile? Or because, they just give, give and without expecting much in return?

Today is apparently Earth Day. I’m no eco-propagator but I take this opportunity to list a few facts I know for sure.

The organizations in charge of road widening and in turn tree felling, do promise compensation for the felled trees in terms of planting trees and saplings in some other area. It is a different matter altogether that there is no one to check on how far the claimed compensation is being carried out. If they do carry out as promised, it is interesting to note that the artificial forests they build are full of Eucalyptus or similar trees with long and pointed leaves. In a layman language, I can call them conifers.

Eucalyptus has medicinal properties, no doubt. But we need oxygen and shade too. Anyone with a pea sized common sense can tell that trees/plants with wider foliage (broader leaves) give out more oxygen. Eucalyptus and other cone trees grow fast but they tap maximum underground water and then, try resting underneath one of these tall trees on a scorching afternoon for pronounced effects.

I was on my way back home the other day from an aunt’s place when we had to pass the artificial forest maintained by Khodays’ group in Kanakapura road. The afternoon sun was merciless and the heat was unbearable but innumerable long coniferous trees served no purpose in the regard. I could not help thinking; had it been a forest full of the Indian Beech Trees (honge mara) or the Sacred Indian Fig (peepal tree), there would have been no dearth for pure oxygen supply and my journey would have been so much cooler.

One Sacred Indian Fig singlehandedly manages the oxygen supply required by 1000 men. True, they take eons to grow to full glory but we can at least preserve the existing handful giants and make sure the next generations benefit too. With the alarming rate of global warning and environmental imbalance, I feel it is high time we have rigid, stringent laws against indiscriminate felling of trees.

Boondon se baatein......

My day was as usual, packed to the brim and probably overflowing, with work, work and more work. Either the server has issues or my fix, eventually my work just has to get extended all the way till the last minute.

It was past afternoon when I finally sorted the infrastructure issues and I gave a whoop of joy when my code worked, it was almost 7.00pm then. I can’t even heed to my body’s hunger pleas when I’m working, Of course that has less to do with interest and more to do with frustration to get the damned task completed. Extraordinary events like Sachin’s double ODI ton do pep up interest and provide a great respite between my usual grueling hours and my code working was definitely something to celebrate. More than anything else, I hadn’t eaten anything post lunch and suddenly feeling ravenous. I managed to coax my team mate and good friend Nithin to accompany me to our in-campus Barista.

We sat in the relaxing ambience, spoke of the usual things around, downed an Apple pie, steaming hot chocolate and a Mocha Tease between us and were returning back to the ODC when we saw the huge crowd obstructing the passage way out. We managed to go a bit forward to see what was happening and to our enormous surprise, it was raining the proverbial cats and dogs!!

Maybe the heavens were applauding the Little Master’s latest exploit, or maybe the Gods took pity on the sudden heat wave post Shivarathri. Or maybe it was the angels of Kyocera weeping over San’s resignation and the fact that it was her last working day. Lol!!

Whatever it was, was the most beautiful thing I’d seen in a long long time. The fat rain drops glistening under the dazzling yellow glare of the sodium vapor light, pelting mercilessly down and the strong winds trying to blow them in all directions was amazing to watch from the shelter of our café.

Barely a minute passed and I was taken by this mad urge to dash out in the downpour. (Those who know me, know my eccentricities too, the “mad” adjective is deliberately for the others.. :P) I suddenly remembered someone saying that getting wet in the summer rains is bad for health or something to that extent. I held back for a few minutes and when the rain began to abate, I could not take it any longer. I dragged a reluctant Nithin out in the face of the torrent. The fat rain drops hit us hard and we were soggy within seconds. I closed my eyes and faced the heavens, braving the hard hitting water drops. I remembered a tacky Raj of RNBDJ saying – Taani partner, apni aankhen bandh karo aur baarish ki iss pehli boondon ko apne dil tak pahunchne do..

Truly a miracle..

No, it was more than that..

It was..

The first showers of the year!!!

???!!!

One best friend of mine got married and in the true sense, “moving on”!! Forget the girls, so many of my guy pals are getting married and they are all still 24-25 something. God, whats happening?? Why are people in such a hurry to settle down?? Is it some sort of an early bird offer – the first one getting the best deal??

Not that I’m excited and looking fwd to getting married now, but I can’t help wondering if I’m being left out in this craze, given that the whole procedure started quite early at my place. Is it something to do with plain looks?? Well I’ll rather avoid that question.

Nevertheless, some “change” is happening and I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with it. And I neither want to meet any of these guys from the list my mum’s short listed, nor meet any on my own. I just want to wake up and realize I’m still in that predictable world I can identify with, my family and friends being just the way I’ve always known them to be and all things in the way I can connect with. But it just isn’t meant to be, I guess. And for someone buried in “quarter life crisis”, its not going down well either. Sigh!!