On flying

Confession: If you get the feeling that the crap here is crappier than usual, you might not be entirely wrong. I get the feeling that i have lowered my blogable-material threshold. This might be because i happened to look at the blog archive and discovered that this is my worst year, quantity wise. Or it might be because i am jobless. Whichever it is, kindly adjust.

In all my life i have never flown as much as i have flown this year. (Hell, i have probably never traveled as much as i have this year). What all that frequent flying* has done is make me realize another aspect of the awesomeness of trains. See, if i  were traveling to Bangalore by train, it'd take me 18 hours or so to get me here. All the time in the world to get used to the idea that i am going to a different city, different people. I'll have time to mentally prepare myself to be Vinaya@Bangalore. Whereas by flight, all i get is an hour and a half, and i spend most of that sleeping. I've done this to and fro so many times now, but even now i lose about a day orienting myself to my new surroundings. Instead of feeling i belong to two places***, for a day or two, i feel like i belong nowhere. 


* This travel website says i get a free ipad** if i make two more bookings with them by the end of the year! Not that i particularly want an ipad, but for free? I'll take your used chappals also happily.

** An ipad has casually entered at made itself at home at my Pune-home. I dont know when we became those people. In fact when i landed, my dad opened the door with the ipad in hand! He had been trying to book flight tickets for his 82 year old friend. I took it from like a big know it all, booked the ticket, and then discovered that there is no way to print the ticket from it. Not a big deal, you want to tell me, you can get tickets printed at the airport, but try convincing an 82 year old to go to the airport without a ticket. Not happening without DNA transplant. I called up bhai to yell at him (all Apply product failures he is of course personally responsible for), but he got extremely defensive and asked me to shut up and throw the ipad away if i didnt like what it did.

*** Reminds me of my second favourite story about this cousin of mine. When she was young, she went and demanded of her mother - "why do you call my father's mom and dad as mom and dad? Dont you have your own mom and dad?" To which her mom explained that after marriage, women get two sets of parents. She digested that for a bit and came back with - "So if i marry two people, i'll get three sets of parents??"

I want my money back!

Statutory warning: Rant. I wash my hands off it. Take it seriously at your own peril.

Its not fair. Not only does he get to be in another country, he gets to meet long lost friends like the Statue of Liberty and this madam, who then proceeds to invite him for lunch! Whereas me, who hasnt seen her since 2006 and the statue of liberty since forever, gets to sit in the same old country and there is no way to end that sentence without including positive things about my life right now, which would take away from the sting of the rant, so i'm going to put a full stop right about now. There. And my friends, who made me write teary eyed farewell mails, who gave me goodbye cards with heartfelt wishes (like - "good luck wishes"), who insisted they will miss me, who havent seen me for a whole month now, cant even decide whether to meet me for breakfast! (Aaha! Lightbulb! So this is what "you will be missed" means - even if you come back and we have a chance to meet, we will miss meeting you. Hmpf). I have decided to drown my sorrows by watching Rockstar and Tintin. I tried getting some nephews and nieces and cousins to come along, but somewhere between the time i was in 10th standard and now, watching a movie that will go away in another week at the most has become less urgent than studying for board exams more than 3 months away. To top it all off, i have the prospect of an interview or four hanging on my head ALL THE TIME. It all depends on how well the guy i sent some code to two days ago (two days ago! how long does it take to look at code, yo?) likes it, and so if i were to be the prudent and responsible version of me, i should be preparing for the future i want, not whining about the present that isnt.



P.S. I couldnt tell you what my 10th standard was like in the rant, because again, it wasnt fitting in with the theme. Mine was a wake up at 5 a.m. everyday to study kind of 10th standard. I dont know what i did waking up at 5, but whatever it was it didnt feel like enough. There were rumours of this guy in the other section who woke up at 3.30 to study. And who had already finished the syllabus by August or some such ridiculously early month. TV and movies were things that happened to other people. But, good times all the same.

The folks less travelled: Coonoor

I have a confession to make. More to myself than to anyone else. I'm not a travel person. I love the idea of getting away from it all, for sometime being someone else someplace else, who doesnt, but the actual details of when to go where to go how to go put me off. To top it off, the husband (who shall hereafter be called the dude) is the kind of person who needs all reservations signed in triplicate. And my meticulousness stops miles before that stage, i can take off on the promise of a bed and breakfast. In short, details are the devil.

I'd been toying around with the idea of going somewhere for a few weeks. More by accident than design, i'd been traveling every month since i got married and September was about to end and i hadnt gone anywhere! I couldnt just let that be. So i bought out my 52 weekend destinations in Bangalore and flipped through the pages looking for possibilities. I skipped past Ooty several times, i mean, such a cliche, but then i remembered Bhai (who shall hereafter be called Bhai) raving about this place near Ooty he'd been to with Black Swan. I called him for details and he got terribly excited and all i could make out was Coonoor! Jose! Kotagiri! He had Shishir call me some time later who was fortunately more coherent. He gave me a few options and then asked if Bhai had talked to me about Jose's place in Coonoor. I said he might have been trying to. Shishir said, its a homestay, one of the best. A bit over your budget, but unbeatable. He went as far as to say if you dont like it, i'll refund your costs! I called up Bhai, who was still not very coherent. For his sake, we decided to go to Jose's.

And ooh my God. Whenever anyone tells you about Jose's, they will probably tell you the same thing. Its a house on top of a hill. With a 360 degrees view. During the day you can see green hills all around. And during the night, you can see lights from 3 different cities - Coonoor, Ooty and Kotagiri, each on their own hill. But words dont do justice to the view. At least mine wont, so i'll just say its unbelievable and stop at that.

We reached there in the afternoon. After a delicious lunch cooked by Jose's wife Sindhu, we made big plans of what to do with our two days. We decided to go see the dam after a short nap and then go down to Coonoor. Right. Overnight journey followed by awesome lunch, short nap indeed! And to top it off, it started to rain a few minutes after we went into our room. I cannot tell you how much i love lying on a bed just staring out at the falling rain. Apparently not more than i love to sleep, though. When we woke up, it was evening. So we ditched the dam and went to Coonoor. Lower Coonoor was noisy and crowded so we escaped to Upper Coonoor. Walked around and had random things for dinner. Jose picked us up on his way back from somewhere and deposited us home. Where hot Ooty tea and roasted cashews were waiting for us. We stayed out for a very long time, enjoying the distant city lights, the silence, the night sky (this is where the dude introduced me to Google Sky and for the first time, i fell in love with an App), and each others company.

The next day was the day of the dam. We overslept. Again. But that didnt stop us from going on pre-breakfast walk down the hill. Got back and did full justice to Sindhu's appam and stew. And then we set off for the dam. Despite asking for directions from many people, we just couldnt find the damn thing. But everything was so pretty, we really didnt mind. Finally, following authoritative directions from some locals, we followed a track in the woods. And came across a clearing where a really tall tree had gone horizontal. There it was, lying across the way, welcoming one and all to sit on it. And we did. Well, the dude did. I lay down on it, looking up at the blue sky, at other gently swaying trees, who to tell you the truth, appeared slightly drunk. And i learnt that i need to learn to shut up at such moments. Every few seconds I'd get terribly excited, grin like crazy, shake the dude and tell him - this is so awesome!

We had to leave. Much too soon. We did see the dam and few monkeys but it was an anti-climax. We got back, picked up our stuff and said goodbye to Jose, Sindhu, their two boys and the star of the trip - their home. I wont tell you the story of their home, it is much more interesting hearing it from them, but i'll tell you this - it showed me the difference between constructing a house and building a home.

Interviews!

Prospective employers seem to read my blog. (Which may not be such a good thing in the long run, but i'm going to pretend this run is short). The interviews have begun! Just got back from my first job interview in 9 years and my throat is dry and my body parts are shaking and i cut and ate a whole musk melon by myself but all that only shows that i am alive, right?

The dude has flown to the US for god knows what so i am home alone. (Well, as alone as you can be with a houseful of people). But as long as there are interviews to prepare for, (i dont want to say the next part but its true) who cares? All i do is use him as a cheat sheet for questions i am stuck at, and that i can do with him sitting there too. I really really want this phase to end so we can start figuring out what to do with "free time".

Okay, i will now go bury my head in the Internet and prepare for the next one. Wish me luck, y'all!

I might regret this

Dear prospective employers,

I write this to you just in case you are not sold on my loaded with awesomeness resume (which seems to be the case, not even an interview call, what the hell is going on?). I really need a job for the following reasons:

1. I need a free gym to go to
The ones around me are insanely expensive and not suited to my lifestyle which at least until now included long vacations trips to Pune. I am bloating up! And i have never been great at the do it at home yourself kind. Come to think of it, the only kind that has worked for me is the kind where i pay through my nose, so i'd rather not think of it.

2. The kitchen needs to see less of me
Really. All sorts of things have been happening to it since i got here. I have been explaining them away as coincidences and unfortunate accidents but i think suspicions have take root.

3. I need to not get used to afternoon sleep.
See, you will employ me, one day or another. Better do it now before i get used to afternoon sleep and spend two months on the job trying to get rid of the habit.

4. I need a social life.
Well, i dont really feel the need for it, which is scarier if you ask me. So, gimme people before i give up on them altogether and become a kitchen hermit. Please.

I hope this letter argues for my case better than my resume did.

Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,

Vinaya


P.S. I hope this letter finds you in good health and cheer.