Thank you...

I never imagined the day was so near. Like, so damn near !
But it is (was) and now I am at home sleeping till 8.30, waking up to think that on a normal day my bus would have reached Tripunithura by now; at 9.30 I am having breakfast and I can't stop smiling thinking, how at this time none of you reached office and I was happily cyber scaffing! ; at 11.30 I am watching a discussion on tv and my mind wanders to the chai-time discussions we had; at 12.30 I am lunching and I know that you guys are not even hungry....every train of thought is somehow leading to that little space we so fondly called our own, where we laughed, giggled, argued over silly stuff and did everything but work. Ok, I am exaggerating. There were times when we worked. ;)

I won't say it's bad sitting at home doing nothing. I am kind of enjoying it. But it is also true that I am missing a lot of stuff. I guess I must get straight to the point of this post, which is very simple. I want to thank you guys for being there, for loving me, for giving me opportunities for personal and professional growth (that last line is right outta my rsg. letter, but I mean it), for being true friends. I would be sinning if I do not write something nice about each one of you here. So here it is, from the depths of my heart...

Expresso aka RGB: I have never met anyone who can actually look 'perfection' in the eye and say 'I personify you'. RGB is a perfectionist when it comes to her work. You would overlook it- a spot on the design with a darker tint, an almost invisible line running around a nmemonic, a slight change in the tone of the copy, a broken link, a spelling mistake...the list goes on. On a personal level, she's the most chilled out person you would have ever met. No pretences, unnecessary flourishes, ego, attitude or bossiness. A friend who lends you a willing ear no matter how silly the subject you are talking about, who has a hundred interesting tales to narrate (re-re-re-replay sometimes..hihi), who encourages, motivates and inspires. I pray to God that everyone gets a boss like her. But I guess the Lord is busy. Wonder if He would entertain such requests. I can already sense that there would be none like you in the future. You have spoilt me for sure! Love you!

KK aka Holy Lama: Truth, righteouness, knowledge, goodness, spirituality...these words resonate when I say the words Holy Lama. The fact that it has little or nothing to do with what you really are (fun, funny, naughty), is something I choose to shrug off. You definitely are my holy guru. Who do I turn to for advice in times of distress, who shows me the inside of her palm with the tip of the thumb and index finger touching each other, saying All izz well, who mesmerizes me with that halo around the head (a trick of the light of course), and who, finally who, smiles that wicked smile and mouth that funny hash-push accent, making all woes disappear into thin air? Who? Who? Who? Of course, YOU! What would our office have been, without a soul like you? KK is just the person to go to when your spirits are low, hopes hit rock bottom and when the world seems unjust and unfair. Speaking to her you will realize, just how trivial your own mental problem is. ;)
Well, take this. KK is the only person on the face of this earth who will laugh heartily at a jibe like this. Sporty, thy name is Lama. :) Your are kids are lucky to have a mom like you around. I have never said this to you but I feel obliged to share the details of my day with you. Somehow, narrating them to you makes me feel great. I love the way you talk, yes, I do. :) I love you. Miss our non-stop chattering :(

Latte aka Novice Writer: You made the process of settling in easy. No, that's an understatement. You made me realize that it was not important to know a person for a hundred years to be able to call them your best friend. The best thing about you is that you are sensitive, which makes you sensitive to other's feelings. You can never hurt a person. Intentionally or unintentionally. You are crazy enough to have dreams where vampire attacks turn you into a rabid dog, where ants where pants and where all the books that you have read and not read, form a frightening collage! In you I found another sister, a friend for life. :) I love you. You have a bright creative spark and please, please, please, don't let it die down. Fuel it, nurture it and I see you going places. Literally and otherwise. :) I have not even said half of what I feel about you but I must say this, you really mean a lot to me.

Well, so that's that. This is what I feel. Before I get too emotional and all that let me round off saying that I was destined to meet you people. That's why I also call myself Destiny's child. Because so far, my destiny has taken me to people and places I have loved. Wish me luck dear friends, I hope my destiny continues riding this good tide....

-Cappuccino

Compare Notes

“Hello, we’re planning a get together. Come along. We can relive the good old times”, boomed Mr. Achuthan from the other end.

“Why not? Who else is coming”, asked Dad.

“Oh! The Menons, the Arvindakshans, the Nalinakshans, The Sudhakarans and the Surendrans.”

“And Hemachandran?”

“No. His mother in law is not doing fine.”

“Let me call him up”

Before I go further, this presumed get together was for some retired fellows most of them free with kids married and settled in far off places within India or in some foreign country.

“Hello, Hemachandran? Ah! Why are you not coming over for the get together? You ask your brother in law to manage for a day, no?”

“Eeek! Should one bother?”

“Bother about what?”

“What can we do? A pack of oldies who can’t drink or smoke or eat their fill? Compare notes on how much sugar one has or pressure? Or talk about the pains and aches? Iam not coming!”

Dad broke out laughing. A call to Hemachandran always makes you laugh.

Rolling pins

It’s a small world. Everything and everyone is related to one another in ways more than one. Let’s just take the case of the rolling pin. Used universally in kitchens, this unassuming invention has found many uses.

• For making Rotis, pancakes, etc: Very useful info, isn’t it?
  
  
• As a Perfect stopper to drain cooked rice when used with a small cup.
  
  
• For Getting your way:At home, you can always use this gadget to get your way. Just threaten to send as missile to anyone who has a different idea.
  
  
• For the Keralite:One can always use it to push the steamed puttu out.( a delicacy steam cooked in longish container)
  
  
• And for Content writing: If you are given a line like the company is into logistics, you meditate and chant the Rolling pin mantra. And lo and Behold- you have a whole page of profile ready, spread from the wisp of information.

KK

Management of Change

"Change is inevitable. Your strength and ability lies in adapting and assimilating as much as you can and delivering according to the changed needs", went on the management guru.

The company had arranged a management class for us. And this exceptional talk was I the post lunch session. Dozing off was not possible because it was a small room and there were only about ten of us from the creative division.

“ We are in the service industry and we can survive only if we meet the customer’s demands. Customer satisfaction is a must”, he droned on.

I was just thinking the type of writing that is expected of us sometimes and how we dread to stoop to that standards. But the next day at office, everyone was game to giving it a try- to change.

So we decided to make a change in our spoken English first and then carry it forward to our written English.

Espresso: let’s in the do.

Latte: yes yes

Cappucino: Change is in the us

Myself :My head is in the circle

Espresso: What?

Myself: My head is in the circle

Cappucino leans over to read something on my desktop and: She is in circle and Iam in the runs

Latte(giggling): Sheesh. You in the go there.

Espresso: Me going meeting moron

Myself: me the thirsty

Suze floats in. “Is that interface ready?”, she asks

We blink. We don’t understand.

She asks again.

She hasn’t changed. The management class has not affected her.

“Tell me when it is ready” and drifts off again

Cappuccino looks at the time, “ Oh no. I see butt of bus”

Myself offers, “ Iam the droppings”
And then corrects, “ Iam in the dropping”

What do you suggest? Is change good?

Try This

Clue: Open Up
Alphabets 5
Middle letter Y

It was another day when work was less. Recession had made us crossword enthusiasts @ dictionary.com. But this was a bit tough.

Cappuccino: Let’s try the vowels in first cell. a, e, i, o and u. The cell remained yellow

Latte: Let’s try the other across clues

Espresso(reads): Said sheepishly 5 letters, first letter B

Latte: Must be Bleat

Cappuccino keys in l and cell shows yellow.
Silence

KK: It is Baawed

Espresso: Yeah, right

Capuccino obediently types in with Latte looking on amusedly
And Voila its right.

Rrring, the phone rings. Espresso attends while others go on pondering over the crossword

Latte: So now we have the second letter too…
Clue: Open Up
Alphabets 5
Second letter A
Middle letter Y

Everyone thinks hard but no aswers.
KK: What’s the last across? ( Reads) This and …
Latte: That

Cappuccino: So we have the last letter also H
Clue: Open Up
Alphabets 5
Second letter A
Middle letter Y
Last letter H

Espresso is done with the call of speaking to some moron and explaining to him some silly thing. She joins.
Espresso: Did you girls get it?
Cappuccino: Not yet
Latte: what’s the first across( reads) Solomon the
Cappuccino Wise

So now we have
Clue: Open Up
Alphabets 5
First letter: S
Second letter A
Middle letter Y
Last letter H

What? Disbelieving Cappuccino starts the vowel test. And it is
CAN YOU BELIEVE?!!!

SAYAH
Cappuccino wore her classic"Don't tell me" look.
And this time too, KK missed to shoot her pose.

That was the last time we thought that Crossword helped vocabulary

Please don’t bother…

Come holidays and the usual annual round of family visits start. You walk into relatives’ homes unannounced and they come to yours. And following the rule, we went to one distant aunt’s place. There were only the two of them there- an old uncle and the aunt.

As we had barged in with no prior notice, the aunt said, “I have some nice home grown bananas and maybe your son will like it”.

I glanced at the two year old beside me and said, “Don’t bother. He doesn’t like bananas”.

“Let’s see”, said she and soon she came out with a platter of sliced bananas with a fork et al.

“I know him well. We buy bananas and it goes rotten but he won’t touch one”, I say.

The aunt takes my son on her knee and offers him a slice with the fork.

He gulps it down without hesitation. I blink

2,3,4, 5, …Soon the plate is empty and he is smiling.

“You just have to present it well” , said the aunt with a grin.

I tried it many times later with no success.

Kids, they really know how to make you look a fool.

The Boss is always .....

Well, it is a simple fill in the blanks. Come on, let's get the words: a moron, a fool, a pain, haughty. But the best still is RIGHT.
Any questions? Koi shak Koi Sawaal? Better not have one.
But as it is, us poor mortals, get carried away once a while and question the RIGHT BOSS.
Nothing gained by the exercise except that you lose whatever little privileges you had like walking in a bit late to the office.
Conditions today in most places of work are a bit taut. Just count your blessings and be happy and don't gossip and try to prove something.
Zombies. Back to work.
The lesson is THE BOSS IS ALWAYS RIGHT.
-KK

On carrots

It's swine flu everywhere. As is often the case, suddenly everyone is overtly health conscious. Organic foods, back to Nature etc etc are making their usual rounds. The latest was what was overheard on bus, "Carrots, my dear...never buy those fat ones. They are all dipped in disinfectants. Go for the slim tender ones prefereably from the retail chains like Reliance."
The thought of carrots somehow took me to the incentive I was expecting for some time. I felt like an ass after the proverbial dangling carrot. Recession is now a reason for them to hold it back.
Lost in thoughts for a while, I woke up to overhear the rest of carrot conversation.
"And carrot halwas should be in pure ghee. When you roast the cashews, be sure that they don't get too brown."
Brown the colour of earth. It is said to be the colour most preferred by fools. I was wearing a brown apparel. The dangling carrot was there again. I was ten minutes late for office. The carrot was still in front of me.

KK

When writing is special

Each day at office, we come across some real good snips ( read bad) of writing. Here we share them with you.
About an ayurvedic resort ( 27-07-09):
The resorts gives you the rare facility to stay as an honoured guest of a local resident and enjoy all the nuisances of what the rustic village life of Kerala and its rich tradition has to offer.

About a Company (05-08-09)
At XYZ Projects Drilling & Blasting, we drill rock. We blast rock. We've even carved in it ... our founding principles we've brought to every job for over 40 years. Hard work. Honesty. Quality of Service. So, if you've got rock, call us for safe, reliable service you can count on. We're the with values in your neighbourhood that match your own.

Roll it over

And now let's have a lollipop,Espresso said handing out nice little lollipops. The lunch over, this was unexpected dessert. But it wasn't easy. Twist, turn, tug. Do what we can, the wrapper wouldn't budge. And the effort was taking its toll. the lollipop inside was melting. Our efforts did not go unnoticed. Amused glances from our colleagues did not put us off the job at hand.

Hurrah! Off comes Cappucino's wrapper ( I mean, her lollipop's). Others join band. Everyone tries to beat the other in putting it in first.

Then it was expressions galore. Navarasas appeared on each face one by one. Disbelief, astonishment, the urge to spit, I'm fooled, How can You, were the varying kinds of moods. It was tangy, very unlike a lollilop in looks and taste.

Latte chickened out from the expressions we displayed. She did not eat it. But everyone had a good laugh looking at others as they painfully rolled the lollipop over.
Thankfully, Sue had brought in some real goodies. We gave our poor tongues a better fare and settled down.

Hats Off to Espresso lil girl who likes these lollipos.
KK

Oops, again!

Ding Dong

The chicken was on stove. The boys were fighting. The phone was ringing. Too many things happening at the same time. My poor brain was overloaded with apt reactions for each. And now the door bell.

Ding Dong

A man in dishelveled hair and clothes reaches into a crumpled polythene bag.
"No. No alms here."
Again he gropes inside the bag.
"I don't want to read any plea."
He is silent but holds out a cover with my husband's name on it.

It dawns. the poor fellow is a courier deliverer.
I feel bad.
"Sorry", I blurt out.
But the deed is done.
He gives the receipt slip to sign. I scrawl something. I feel peeved by the stature of the man.
Someone save me.

Ooops, again!
KK

Time & tide waits for none

And now Expresso beat me to it. Recession management guru was what I desired to be. But she took away the honours. Anyways, I feel a little elevated today and would wish to share an anecdote which helps you just count your blessings and forget recession or whatever.

It was the May of 1985. Dad bought the first car of his life , old rugged 1962 model ambassador. He used to work in central India then. And he bought the car from a doc in Kerala. He had this adventurous idea of driving it all the way up to Bhilai where we lived from Thrissur, covering more than 2000kms. So we got ourselves a mechanic and started off.

Summer in the Deccan is not one of the most pleasant regions to travel in a non Ac car. But there we we were, driving through little villages with a trail of amused children and dust. We tasted all kinds of cuisines on the way from wayside little hotels and somewhat better restaurants. It was fun.

Well, we reached Hyderabad around 2 AM. And the town was asleep. We were new to the city and we did not how to get to the main road to the better hotels. We tried one or two, but they were kind of unwilling to take in late visitors and said"No rooms available". so we finally ended up in an old house converted into a hotel. It had one big squarish inner courtyard, around which the rooms were set. That night was horrible. The room was full of gigantic mosquitoes who made sure that we did not sleep a wink.

The next day we started off in search of a better hotel and found one. And we saw the Golconda fort and the Sala-e- jung museum. Drive to Bhilai from there took another two days. By the time we reached Bhilai, the driver had Chicken pox and I had fever.

The fever I had was peculiar. I ran high temperatures every alternate day and only at night. After about three cycles , I was hallucinating, seeing peacocks from my window, Amitabh Bachchan dancing by the bedside and so on... Soon, I ended up in the hospital in a double room where the other bed was occupied by a woman. I drifted off to sleep with IVs injecting medicines into me. I regained complete consciouness only by late afternoon. I had opened my eyes earlier and seen my mother talking with the woman on the bed. Now, she told me that her name was Kamala and that she had kidney failure.
" How are feeling now?", Kamala asked
" Better", I managed.
" Oh! It's nothing. I have dialysis twice a month but Iam OK".

I smiled. Mom took over the conversation part.
Suddenly, there was a commotion in the adjoining room. A girl my age was being given Oxygen. I saw her some moments ago as she peeked into my room from the small corridor that joined the rooms. She was a beautiful girl. And when mom said that she being given oxygen, I did not believe it. She had a cardiac problem.

Next day, Kamala had a visitor. Her husband, a trucking businessman had come over. They spoke in hushed tones. He was crying and she was trying to comfort him. And when he left, she told us that he would return the next with the kids. She showed some photos of the kids - a three year daughter and a five year old son.

"Cute children, are'nt they?", asked Kamala.
" And who is this?", mom asked
"That's me. I looked beautiful then. It is at a wedding."
Tears welled up in her eyes. She was lost in thought.

Later she told mom that her treatment costs were getting out of hand and that her husband was the youngest brother and he could no more take money from the family business to treat her. But she held nothing against her in -laws. She believed in God and fate.

Next day, Kamala was up early, all dressed to see the kids. Soon, we heard chattering voices in the passage. The kids were here. They came and leapt at Kamala in joy.

"Come home", they said.

I was a witness to the poignant moment. Her husband and her eyes were happy and sad at the same time. The husband had brought some food. She fed the children with her hands. The elder was telling her about school, the younger one about her cousins. It was the first time I realised, the value of life.

That evening, she was mum, unlike her chattering self. By night, she said that she asked her husband not to show her body to the kids. She wants them to remember her as an active mother.

I got discharged the next day. Later we came to know, she was soon paralysed and her systems shut down one after other and she died. She was cremated nearby and not taken home as per her wishes.

This story I wanted to narrate for long. Destiny was that it came out now.

katten kaapi

The party illusion

The day dawned with hopes of a afternoon party. Cappucino was throwing one after a long wait. She had topped the exams, you recall. The expectation started to climb after the lunch hour. The clock hands moved wearily on. Time seemed to be still and everyone engrossed in work. As lunch was planned with space for high tea, attention on work was becoming difficult. Eyes could not focus. The head wheeled. Still, the hope and grit that the party is soon to be held me together. By five, patience packed its bags and left for a world tour. An outburst, why don't you guys just enjoy a party when one is offered shook the zombies off the chairs. Glassy eyed workaholics looked at me vacantly. Slowly they started to get up ...Now the Indian Monsoon had different plans. Downpour. And here a down por of woes. None can walk to the neighbourhood cafe in the rains. Can't understand them. Well, the illusion continues till time. I'm still hoping for a high tea. Silent prayers to the rain gods to hold for a bit are on the lips.

-Katten Kaapi

A faithful friend no more

This is about Latte's faithful friend who died today. It had been coming. Two days ago the trouble deep down was surfacing time and again. But she was faithful. Whatever she had, she left for Latte. Even in the dying moments, a welcoming smile lingered. But by 6P.m IST, she was proclaimed dead. May Latte's computer rest in peace. Amen.

With teary eyes
Katten Kaapi