Bankrupt

It was July 2005, one of my friends, called Aarthi, was in UK doing her MS, she asked me to collect her UG certificate from her college. She mailed me a letter, which I should give her Ma'am to collect her certificate.

That day I had to go to my college to attend my regular classes. I had finance class that day, which was obviously boring, so all of our friends decided to go to Cafe coffee day after the class. I had only hundred bucks, never mind, coffee day was cheaper. We went to the coffee day as planned, the bill was 150 bucks and one of my friends and myself paid the bill.

I dint have a single penny with me cuz I gave off the 100 bucks I had! I never realised the fact, that I dont have money at all. I rode my bike straight to Ethiraj College to get Aarthi's certificate. It was a damn sunny day; I had to travel for about 10 Kms to reach the college.

By the time I reached Ethiraj, I was all tired and tanned. I met her ma'am and gave her the printed copy of her letter. She asked me to take three photocopies of the letter, I got back the letter and told her, "I'll be right back ma'am"
"Better you come soon, they'll close the office"
"Oh.. what time will they close?"
"In another half an hour", she said
"Oh.. ok.. I'll be here in another 5 mins"

I walked to a xerox shop nearby, opened my wallet and found it empty! (ahaa... BULB) I searched all the partitions in my wallet but there wasn't any money! Then I ran to my bike and searched on the box, but there wasn't any either! I was totally shocked and dint know what to do. I thought I can come on the next day to collect it, but it was the weekend so the college wont be working. I had to courier her certificates within Sunday atleast for it to reach on time!

Trapped as usual... I was thinking of the ways to get the photocopies
1. To beg for money (which I cant..Prestige issue)
2. To take the xerox and pretend as if I lost my wallet! (that's pretty good, but, what if the xerox man swears at me?)
3. To ask some students around (It is close to begging, moreover an MOP student shouldn't beg to an Ethiraj student! prestige issue again)
4. To go back home and bring money! (fair enough, but the hot sun:-(

I found the 4th option to be okay and started back home. It was so hot and I felt thursty and tired... I reached home, got the documents photocopied and fled back to Eithiraj

It was nearly an hour since I left the place.. I ran to the ma'am and gave her the letter..
"ma'am here it is", I said
"What took you so long?"
"Ma'am... err... actually... err... I was a lil hungry so I had my food, so it took some time"
"Oh.. cant you finish this off first? The office would be closed"
"Oh ma'am but I felt giddy so I had to finish that first or I'd have been finished!" I said (but, ma'am I hadn't any money so I'd to go home which's only 10 kms away from here to get the photocopy for just Rs. 2.... ha ha ha)
"Are you alright now?"
"Very well ma'am", I said (Nothing much... Just became dark and stinking like one pig..)

She gave back the letter after signing it. I went straight to the office, It was open!! I was so happy (ketta nerathulayum oru nalla neram!!)
Then I got the certificate, atlast... Phew!!

Leaving OT

Finally, I got my express acceptance from CitiFinancial that I was selected as an Officer for their credit and risk function and in a week's time I'd get my offer letter..

I was very happy and was thinking on some reason that will help me quit OT asap

April 27, 2006... It was a sunny morning, I was eagerly waiting in OT at my desk to meet my AOM, I waited for him from morning, he came to office only at thirteen hundred hours..

Me: Vijay, can I talk to you in private for a while?
My AOM's name was Vijay P.
Vijay: Yes, ofcuz u can

He took me to the conference room which was near the lobby. He, then, asked me to sit and he sat opposite to me

Vijay: Tell me Savitha, what's the matter?
Me: Vijay, actually I have decided to quit OT... I'm getting married
Vijay: (shocked) oh... Congrats... its both happy and sad news to us
Me: For me either... Happy that I'm getting married and sad that I have to quit OT
Vijay: Why’s that u have to quit?
Me: Actually, my wedding was planned to be held in Feb. But, there is a new project that suddenly came up in US, so my fiance has to move to US,
Vijay: I see...
Me: It's a great offer that someone cant miss, so he's taking up the project and it'll atleast take two years for him to come back..
Vijay: Where in US?
Me: err... New York (which came out instantly)

(if he had asked me Where in NY?..... my reply would have been... Saar, anda NY bus standa otti.. No. 6, Vivekandar theru, NY kurruku sandhu, NY main road, NY..)
Vijay: Which company?
Me: HCL Technologies
Vijay: No, I'm asking about the company in US he's gonna work with
Me: hmm.. DSP Merill Lynch (aaha.. is it there in NY? poi mela poi sonna soru thanni kadaikadhu di)
Vijay: Oh that's really great
Me: Actually, my engagement is on May 8, It's happening in Madurai
Vijay: Oh that's gr8... but, after, the eng. wont u come back?
Me: I'm afraid not, cuz i'll be staying there for a while and come back here for doing some shopping and visa processing
Vijay: Oh when's ur wedding
Me: Its on June.. err.. 14th
Vijay: Ok Savitha, in that case we cant do anything.. we just have to accept ur decision
Me: Ya, u cant even do relocation as i'll be going to US (ha ha ha thapichen)
Vijay: ah that's right.. So u please give me ur resignation letter so that i can process it asap
Me: (smiling) thank u so much Vijay (appa vela mudinjidhu)

Then after a while I gave my resignation letter, a week after that I was issued with a relieving letter after long hours of waiting... Phew!!

Ponnu-paathufying

Ponnu-paathufying (Translation-Sight-ing a girl with parents' consent)

Meaning:
After a mutual understanding is established between guy's parents and girl's parents (as mentioned in my previous blogs) the guy, along with his parents (and grand parents, in this case) comes to the girl's place to have a look at her, this is called ponnu-paathufying (sighting the girl with
parents' consent).. this is from the guys perspective.. but, there's no payyan-paathufying.. however, the girl does it at the time of ponnu-paathufying itself.. So, it can be rightly said as sigting each other with parents' consent...

Few hours b4 ppfying (Ponnu-paathufying)
I was ready... I was wearing one of my new salwar-kameez(es)... My dad had called my sister and her family home... (My sister, her two kids, her husband and her mom and dad-in-law..) it was a big crowd as u can see..

The event was supposed to be at half ten, it was 10 o'clock when my sister's crowd came home... At the moment she entered home, she was shocked when she looked at me... she started scolding me and asked me to wear sari..

Deepa (my sis): Sari kattiko
Me: Chance-a illa.. I cant.. I dont have a nice sari
Deepa: paravailla.. u can wear that orange sari
Orange sari was the new one that I got for my nephew's aayushhomam (first b'day)
Me: adhu romba kevlama irrukum.. it's Tassar silk.. I'll look fat like one aunty
Deepa: No.. U wont.. it looks gr8.. u wear it otherwise no one in the guy's family will like u
Deepa's Mother-in-law: yenna nee ivlo bhanda panra? ippo olunga dress panna oru dhadavayoda podhum... thirupi thriupi naraye guys munnadi poi nika vendaam
Me: (grinding my teeth.. got so angry with wat she said.. but had no choice).. err.. ok fine.. i'll wear it (podi... po)..

I went to my room, started wearing the sari and after sometime my sister came in to adjust the sari

Me: (Tears streaming out of my eyes) Its so embarrasing.. why the hell should I wear sari when i'm not comfortable in it?
Deepa: Ok da.. yein azhara? relax.. cool down, its a traditional event so u have to adhere to these strict regime..

I came out wearing my sari.. then my mom got many dazzling jewellery (which i hate to the core) and asked me to wear them.. I was so pissed and I silently wore everything she got...

Finally I looked like one chingucha (More or less means tribe or gypsy).. I knew for sure that it's gonna be a flop -show

The begininng
It was 11 o'clock, the guy's crowd came home, I was asked to sit in my room.. I should wait there till they call me... I was looking funny (like never
b4)... Then someone said, "ponna asirvadham vangika varasolunga".. then my mom asked me to come out..

I came out to the hall, in which they were waiting and sevichified (hmm.. it means crawling on the floor near their feet to get their blessings).. then I was made to sit on a paai (plastic carpet).. opposite to me Prasanna, his grandpa and his dad were sitting on chair, to my left my sis' crowd was sitting on the oonjal.. I tried to be casual.. but I was lil nervous.. I looked at the guy once or twice, he looked little different in person..

Sing in the rain...........

My mom served some snacks to the invitees when someone said "ponna oru paatu pada sollungo"

Me: (gulp) Illa vendame... (yein vazhkaila ipdi risk edukarenga)
But everyone was compelling... I couldn't escape... I really regretted, why dint I have cold or throat infection!!

My mind started racing with tension... What to do as I never practiced any songs for a longtime, atleast for 5-6 years... At this point in time all i can sing was only some koothu songs, but that obviously wouldn't work, i should sing only carnatic songs in these occasions!!

Trapped, as usual, I was thinking what to do... suddenly, an idea flickered,
I said, "Naan Deepa kuda padaren...” Everyone agreed with me slowly, then my sis sat next to me, (staring at me and mumbling) I smiled at her as I felt relaxed, yenna akkavayum matti vittutomila.

We started singing.. "shriman narayana....." usual Kolu (Dassara) song, which usually would lead to a maami giving sunddal to us.. (Childhood memories)

Finally, we finished singing, Thank God no one ran off nor did any donkey came running into our house... Phew!!

Rendezvous
After this whole assignment, my sister's mother-in-law came to me and asked whether I want to talk to the guy... I just nodded my head yes...
I was then asked to go to the bedroom; I went there and waited for a minute

Then he came in and sat right opposite to me on the chair, I said "Hi" and smiled, then he started speaking...

"Hi, Unga peyr Savitha dhana...”
"Ya... aama" I said
"Yennoda peyr theriyuma.. Prasanna"
"Ya... theriyum"
"I'm very sportive"
"Oh... apdiya", I said (so am I)

My niece and nephew entered and switched on the A/c...

"indha sari pottadhalam unga plana" he asked
"illa.. actually naan casuala salwar dhan potirunden aana yellarum sendhu sari katta vachitanga", I said (Total damage.. he must be scared after seeing me in this get up.. ha ha ha)
"yennoda grandparents traditional adhanala dhan sari katta vachirupanga", he said
"Oh... irrukalam"

Then we spoke for sometime, nothing much, actually I dint know what to speak so I sat there dumb as usual

"yennaku bad habbits yedhuvum illa... sila occasions la drink pannirken", he said

I was thinking... Yennakum yendha bad habbitum illa.. yeppovadhu BD pidipen, andha smell varama irruka konjam Brandy kudipen, which brought a smile to my face

"Oh... yepovavdhu thani adicha thapila, yeppovum adicha dhan thappu" I said and regretted for that cheiri accent. Actually i should have told "yepovavdhu drinks saapta paravailla, yeppovum saapta dhan thappu".. namma vazhkaila idhelam sagajamappa

We spoke for a while, never came to a conclusion as to whether we like each other and whether our parents can go ahead and so on. He asked for some days' time and left home after sometime...

My engagement was later planned to be held in June:-)

Busy Evening...

April 13, 2006..(Thursday).. I was very happy that I'm gonna have 3 day's off from work.. April 14th was Tamil Newyear and Sat, Sunday is my weekend off.. andha sandoshathla vellaye seiyala..

That day I had an interview with ING insurance.. I forgot to inform my parents about it.. i called up my dad at 4 o'clock..
Me: Appa.. naan inniku veetku vara late agum.. I have an interview with ING vysya
Appa: Oh!! yeppo varuva?? Late aaguma?
Me: Illa pa.. 5:30 ku vanduduven
Appa: Ok.. seekram vandhudu va illa? appo ok
Me: ok pa.. bye

I was confused.. my dad wont ask me to come early and he wont ask all such questions like.. late aaguma? Seekram vadhudhvaya? Anyways I thought yedo akkaraila ketruparr.. I headed to ING vysya which was near LIC building.. I was thinking about sth else and took a wrong direction.. I roamed around Pudhupet for half an hour.. my head started aching terribly cos of veiyil ("veiyil" - more or less refers to hot sun).. then finally I reached ING only at 5..

I met the manager his name was Afsar.. He bugged me for forty-five mins..

He explained the job profile, it was marketing for his insurance products, which I dint like.... he talked about all the employee facilities, CTC, etc.. nothing interested me.. mokka thanga mudiyala..

my cellphone started vibrating.......... "Appa calling"..

Afsar: U'll have loads of benefit by taking up this job
Me: (the time was 5:40 and my dad calling?? wat's wrong with my dad? Why is he behaving wierd??..) ya.. err.. i can understand
Afsar: How many customers can u get per month?
Me: (poda po.. yennala oru dashum pannamudiyadhu) I can get atleast one per day, Sir
Afsar: That's the spirit of a real marketer.. i'm so impressed with ur profile
Me: (dei.. vennada.. verupethadha) ok sir, I think its getting late for me, I have an important appointment with one of my clients...
Afsar: Oh.. wat type of clients? If u dont mind could u explain pls
Me: (aaha.. mattnaya? vaiya vachiktu summa irukamata?) hmm.. they're based on US.. they're the employees of Moody's in US.. we work together on a project.. sir i'm afraid i cant tell u more than this (podum idhukumela poi sonna soru kadaikadhu)
Afsar: Oh that's interesting.. u bring all ur certificates on Monday.. u can join in two weeks
Me: thats gr8.. I'll be here with all the docs on Monday.. nice meeting u (appeettu)

I was so happy that he let me out finally, Then I called up my dad and told him that i'm coming.. It was 6 o'clock when I started..

I reached home at 6:15.. my dad was waiting on the doorstep

Me: Wat's wrong? yenna aachu??
Appa: Inniku nama veetuku yaaro varranga..
Me: yaar andha 'yaaro'??
Appa: Payyanoda appa amma.. they're coming at 6:30, poi dress change pannitu vaa
Me: yenndha payyan? (as if i dont know)
Appa: Overa scene podadha..
Me: aaha adhuku dhan ivlo call pannengala?? appaye nanachen.. munadiye sollakudadha?
Appa: Ok ok, time aachu poi ready aagu

I got ready at the nick of the time.. It was 6:45 when they came.. Prasanna's parents and grandparents came..

I dint know wat to speak to them.. I was sitting in the oonjal (swing) like a dumbo.. they asked me few questions.. I answered them in our brahmin
accent.. It was very difficult to speak in our traditional accent as I was familiar with only three accents,
1. Local peter language.. adhanpa English (Courtesy: MOP Vaishnav)
2. Madras bhasha (Courtesy: SRM Nightingale Mat, Hr, Sec, School... ha ha ha)

3. Hyundai Accent

I spoke to my would-be father-in-law and Grandfather-in-law (ha ha ha).. I was scared to talk to the guy's mom and grandmom cuz I dont know many difficult household activities like, cooking, cleaning, etc.. so I maintained distance...

I showed them my tour photos.. they glanced thru it patiently.. then they had few snacks and left home by 8 o'clock

Shock of my life...

One fine Sunday afternoon... I was sitting in the dinning room and reading a book, my dad and mom were sitting in the opposite side..

Suddenly..
Appa: (to my mom) sollitaya??
Amma: Illaye.. neegale sollunga..
Me: (Puzzeled.. closed the book and kept it aside) yenna aachu?
Appa: Onnu illa... oru nimisham iru...
Then, he went to his room and came back with a paperpaperla naalu pakkamum manjal (turmeric) poosirndhudu..
Appa: Idha padichi paaru!
Me: yennadu idhu?

I opened the paper and glanced thru it.. it was a guy's jadagam (Profile)

Me: yedhuku yenkitta katarenga??
Appa: indha payyan peru Prasanna.. HCL-la vela pakkaran..
Me: Seri.. adhuku?
Appa: Payanku oru sister, avangalku kalyanam adhuchu, she's in US..
Me: Seri.. ippo finala yenna solla varenga??
Amma: payyanoda photova kaatunga
Me: (Shocked.. aaha yennama idhellam).. (blinking)

Dad got his photos and gave it to meThere were two photos.. i jus glanced thru and kept it aside, (seriyave paakala)

Appa: yenna payyana pudichiruka?
Amma: -do-
Me: (nalla maatnen.. yenna reaction kudukardhune theriyala).... hmm... (started crying) yenna pa adhukulla kalyanama?? ippo dhana velaiku poga aarambichen?
Appa: aama ma, but its time for u to get married,
Amma: nee ippo kalyanam panikardhu dhan correct.. yengalkum vayasite pogudhu.. (same cinema dialogue)
Me: (blinking)
Appa: yenna sollra??
Me: illapa naa innum financially romba weak.. Konjam dhan save panirken.....
Appa: Kavala padadha ippo dhana start pannirkom, kalyanathuku innum 6 months aavdhu agum
Amma: aaru masam irruku illa, payyanoda appa amma nee velapatha paravailla nu dhan sonnanga
Me: Ungalku yenna correctnu padardho adaye seinga