Variety is the spice of life

PK Dash.  As a name it may not send shivers down the spine. But the situations and issues it lead to really did made some people, not just shiver but literally got themselves hurt laughing. The day of onboarding: PKD: “Hey team..i’ven’t received my credentials” Recruiter: ”Did you submit all your forms?” PKD:”Yes I did. If you want I can resend them” Rec:”That would be great. Let me check in parallel on the status of your cred creation” Recruiter to IT (over call)  Rec:”Can you check why PK Dash doesn’t have his credentials yet” IT: “PK what?” Rec: “Dash” IT: “We can’t have special characters in name field” Rec: “Pls raise it with concerned team and resolve this system issue. The employee should get his mail id by today EOD” IT: “Connect me with the employee. Will talk with him” IT to PKD IT: “ Hi, we are IT. is it PKD?” PKD:”Yes” IT: “Can you let me know your full name with right spelling” PKD:” It is P as in PK, K as in alphabet after J and Dash” IT: “what is on the dash” PK...

If finding a seat in crowded cafeteria is an art, I am Sam Anderson of it. Kaadhal Kondenla Dhanushku kuda kadisi rowla seat kedachirum, but I would often roam the length and breadth of the food court and still wouldn’t find a solitary seat. It’s even worse when I go with friends as I would often end up with the task of finding seats for all of us. If by some miracle, I do manage to find a couple of seats, it seldom lasts long. Every alternate second, someone or other will come and ask if anyone is coming to the table I am holding for my friends. It makes me wonder, why would people ask that question? Unless I carry a lunchbox like Mayabazar Ranga rao, it would make little sense for a single person to hog a whole table, right? And it’s not that people are that dumb, not to notice my single Tupperware dabba, sitting on the table and the only possible explanation could be I am waiting/holding the place for someone else. Unless they may think that, a single person sitting alone on a table...

From Time immemorial, from the times when giants ruled earth, when titans waged war with gods, when pangaea was world map, when stone formed and sand was yet to (kal thondri mann thondraa time u see )gils and kodumais have an ongoing tussle, across generations, rebirths and locations. Especially with the concept of transport and any mode associated with it. My chronicles of kodumai at airports across the globe has been polambified and documented to the extent possible in this space. Recent addition is road transport. Akin to the relation between transfer and honest IAS officers, I get shunted to all buildings across Chennai to Pondicherry in the name of Project ODC’s. This time it’s the turn of Perumbakkam which is right in the middle of all long traffic signals and bottleneck junction capital of the world. Since I am pretty much new to any place outside of my doorstep, I took googlaandavar’s advice and boarded the bus, which was one of the many I need to take, in the break journey ...

There is nothing unusual about anything that happens as usual, as long what’s deemed unusual that which is always the usual for some specimens, namely Gilsbert. (Ppppaaahh..intha vaasagatha tee shirtlayum autolayum quotationavay podlam polarukkay!!! Note pannikaren) Getting bulb is nothing new for Gilsbert and its been pretty well documented in this blog space about all those great adventures which resulted in bulb award ceremony. This time was no exception except that the bulb was mutually and unknowingly shared by an unknown appracenti. It was yet another typical day when Gilsbert, forever and always lost in thought, entered a lift in office to go to 4th floor to meet his friend. Liftla porathu varathu ithelam china kozhandhai kooda thannala pannumay.. Ithula enna bulb vaanga mudiyum apdinu kelvi kekarvanga please proceed to rest of the section. Kekkathavangalum padikalam. Baadhagamillai. In the lift, he saw one appracenti with “V” tag, displaying the black and white photo tak...

Intha kodumai kodumai solluvangalay...athukum namakkum thaan pathu jenma bandhamaachay..ennada konja naala onnum kaanumay paatheengala....avlo easya vitruma.. I had almost forgotten madame's birthday. Point to be noted is almost. Having realized that I still had sufficient time to escape capital punishment, I started thinking of a wonderful gift worth remembering for ages. Point to be noted is that I took quite a lot of effort in thinking. As they say, more than the gift, its the thought process that counts. Apdi thinki thinkiye oru vaaram odi poiruchi. Suddenly the realization stuck that its just few more days left and I am yet to decide on it, subtle hints like "what are you going to get me for birthday" discounted. Ithuku melayum oru abarimithaamaana gift pathi yosichitruntha yosichitay irukka vendi thaannu, I decided on the rava upma of gifts - Teddy bear. Intha teddy bear giftla oru vasathi enna vendraal, pudikalinu kovathula mela veesi adichaalum valikaathu. Pay...

If Gilsbert is there can kodumais be far away... apdinu Beats paadhirunthaalum paadirupaaru. Athenna enna mayamao manthiramo therila..Gilsbert manage to find kodumai in remotest of situations. It so happened that in the new kambeni that he had joined, his shift timing starts at midnight 8 AM. Since Gilsbert stays at one end of the world and the kambeni located at other extreme, cab comes at artha rathiri 7 AM to pickup saga pulimootais in ara thookam on the way to aapece. Needless to say Gilsbert being the first pickup has to board the cab first. On that mangalagaramana monday midnight the kadangara cabkaaran came at 6.45 AM itself. He kept on calling Gilsbert to ask for route to his place. "Cab kaar cab kaar..from Gemini you take the 4th right and come straight..take second left..come straight and take 2nd right come straight...." Athukumiula straight left right thaangatha cab driver.. "Dei Gilsbert..unakku vazhi therilaina utru..naan vera yaarkitayachum ketu v...

I am all for rules and all for breaking the rules at the same time. Those which makes sense to the general majority need not necessarily always be right and that shouldn't be the qualification criteria for a rule. For example dress code. Being presentable and being comfortable is fine. Adhering to something which is either of them is not. Ditto for the "chalta hai" attitude of the vast majority, including me. Take public transport for example, If a bus breaks down, if the seat on a bus is cramped, if the bus doesn't arrive on time, if the bus doesn't stop at the designated "bus stop" area, if the conductor/driver is rude, if they treat passengers as cattle, if they don't give proper change, if the bus leaks during rain, if the seats are damaged and above all if any gal gets squashed molested in a bus ...everything goes. No one bates an eyelid to these things. While 50 rupee ticket A/c bus is cleaned regularly and seats are almost neat and well mainta...

This is not your typical "I am US return I hate every thing in India" kind of post. Even before also my opinion on our traffic system is not that great. But now that I've a reference to compare it makes it more pathetic. When me and my roomie went for driving classes the first thing that stuck us was the road signs. There were like zillions of them. And also the lane system and the notifications marked on the road. Since neither of us had driven car in India and most of our journeys were either via office cab or by public transport never had that close to the road kind of experience. We were always wondering how the signs would be on our roads in India and it would often lead to arguments. I used to feel that most of our roads never had any lane system and since they are narrow to begin with doesn't make sense to partition them into halves too. He always used to insist that, even if we do have lanes people never used to stick to their sides and would often spill out. ...

In my previous post, while mentioning about the quirks of Monk and how they make up majority of the episodes was wondering is it really possible to be so...hmm...confirming. Ipdilaam kooda yaarachum irupaangalanu yosichapo it reminded me of some quirks of my own :) School padikarapolaam if a paper...any paper(!!) happens to touch my leg, udanay thottu kannula othindruven :D My sister used to be a playful (read normal) soul and will step on anything despite my mom's warning that stepping on school bag means no padippu yerings in ur mandai. I took those warnings literally :) and till date none of my bags go anywhere near the toes :D aana padippu thaan yerina maathiri therila :D During school days, I used to wear my right socks and shoe first. Thappi thavari left socks potukittenna adutha arai mani neram kaalula etho weight katti vitta mathiri oru feeling irukkum. Will forcefully try to divert my mind into something else and wor...

"chellaam" "Kannaaaa" "Raasaaaaaa...epdi pa irukkaa..thurumbaaaaaa elaichitiyeee" After a gap of 3 months, if a mother sees her kid, ipdi ethachum dialog varumthaana expect panuveenga. Athaan illa. Had a skype chat with mom. Indhiya tholaikaatchigalil mudan muraiyaaga mathiri..it was the first ever time my mom was in video chat. Solli vacha mathiri, video was not appearing in their end due to some connection problem. After a few minutes of voice chat, suddenly the video issue got resolved. First question from mom. "Ennadaa thalaya ipdi vachitruka!! anga poitu hair cuttay panniakalaya?" Avvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv..... Rapunzel ku aduthabadia intha hairstyle issuesnaala ivlo kushtapattathu gilsa thaan irukum. For me, intha yogi sithar mathiri jadaa mudi hairstyle romba pudikkkkum. My reminder to get hair cut would be that if and only if, it falls like wiper blade on my specs. There was this Pomeranian naaikutty called Julie next to our...

Than muyarchiyil satrum manam thalaraatha vikramaadithan mathiri ..naanum post poda topic yosichi paakaren..uhumm.. Naalu lineku mela thaanda maatenguthu. Ennada kodumaiye kaanumay oru vela namma time work out aaga aarambichidicho nu yosikka start thaanga pannen. "Alauvuddin" padathula Asokan vanthu nikkara mathiri "Aaalampanaaaa..itho vanten" nu aajar aaidichi. Intha ooruku vantha..vela iruko ilayo..car driving licence kandipa venumnu ellarum told. Oray the imsais of india..pestered me to take the test. Seri..namma oorla thaan carlye 8 poattu licence vaangirukomay inga vaangida mudiathaa sollitu paatha...nejamavay test pass pannanum solitanga!!! There was one big booklet. Atha padichi exam ezhuthi pass pannanumaam. Appo thaan learners permitay tharuvangalam!!! Ithennada vamba poachu sollitu paatha...namma makkals athukum vazhi sonaanga. Some punniyavaan had downloaded dumps. Itha mattum padi pothum sollitu he circulated it to everyone of us. The day finally came...

I think whoever settled in this country first were not exactly big fan of the English way of doing things. Obviously, if you are exiled or shipped as prisoner from some country, it may not rank high on your list of favourite places. But athukaga ivlo extreme!! Avanga oorla left turn na inga right. Anga switch keezha push panna ON aagumna inga ulta. Ivlo enga...saavi poatu kathava thorakka kooda lever ultava iruku!!! Actually you see..normala..nalla naalulaye namakku velangidum ithula ivlo kanpoosans vera iruntha kozhantha enna thaan pannum (kozhanthainnu enna sonnengarathu pretty obviousngarathalaa remind pannala). Intha veena pona oorla innoru kodumai ennana..ella apartmentskum oray colour, oray height, oray shape and oray set of  floors. Thoorakenthu paaka ennamo greeting card set mathiri irukaynu aasapattu veedu pudicha..hmmmm.... Almost all of my colleagues and their friends stay in this apartment community. So, ingaye veedu paatha vasathi sollitu, till the time i took a h...

Ambulimama, Balamitra kathailalaam vara mathiri literalla pala kadal malai kadanthu oru vazhia America vanthadaintha Gilsanandaaku,  Aappu, startersla thara soup maathiri, suda suda was waiting. First day..First show..che..pazhakka dosham..First day @ aapeece. Colleague signs up for me to take me in and security gave temporary access card. "Machi...first time entering..valathu kaal vachu vara vaa?" "Dei..ithenna first night rooma..etho oru kaal vachu vaada..vanthathay 2 hour late..ithula sagunam veraya" "VEEEEEEE VEEEE VEEEEEEEEE VEEEE" Suddenly siren sounds filled the air and enakku pinnala queuela ninna makkals took two steps back. All security guys were looking at me with suspicion. My colleague, who by the way was well aware of the potential of my luck, was slapping his head. "Inga vanthumaaa!! Velanignaa pola thaan" Nalla sunda kaachina thaar mathiri, pala pala nu oru aasami, atleast 7 ft in height and Godrej buearu maathiri b...

"Ennada hair style ithu...paanaiya kavuthu vitta mathiri..decenta irukka eppo thaan kathukka poriyoo" . It would've been an otherwise ordinary rant of Mom if not for the source behind it. Some one in temple had commented about my hairstyle (rather the lack of it) to her and that which had convinced her as the main reason behind my single status!!! Athepdi yengenthu yethai link panraanga therila!! End result, i was chased away from home with the warning that unless my hairstyle was at an acceptable level (which god only knows) i wouldnt be allowed inside. My sis too joined the bandwagon and sided with the enemies. She gave me her membership card for one local spa and booked an appointment for me. The D-day arrived. When i entered a chinese lady greeted me and gave me a catalogue which resembled the ones given at Pizaa Hut. Naama saloonuku thaan vanthirukoma ila saapdavaa nu lighta doubtoda opened it. I was not much wrong. Atleast on the price columns. Antha bookla ir...

If anything can go wrong it will - quoted Mr.Murphy. I guess he was one deerkadarisi who foresaw the need for such a quote considering the imminent arrival of a poor species going by the name Gils. Athennamo therila enna maayamo puriala...if something goes issue free or trouble free i feel awkward and nervous. Unless something goofs up or goes amazingly wrong, it is never satisfying. Right from school days, when we have to queue up for picking up our lab exam experiment questions, the entire class would be eagerly waiting for me to pick the first paper. For they knew for sure that the magic hands of mine would pick the most atrocious of all the questions :(  Such had been my luck that it had become a legendary topic of discussion and a recent stint at the consulate was another addition to that legend's mystique. The day of the visa interview dawned bright and shine and was surprisingly issue free. It scared the rat out of me when i arrived for the interview 45 mins in advan...

I am always at a loss to understand what makes people think i am from the hindi speaking part of India. In office very rarely do people associate me with TN. They mix me up for a Kannadiga or at times Marathi even though i know zilch about both languages, but never a tamil. Not that i am prejudiced against those places or people from there. Pongaluku vellai adikara mathiri vellai paint adichikita kooda at best i qualify as  'Maa neram' and i speak with so much accent that my tanglish is better than my english. Epdi paathalum, the relation logic stumps me!! Last week it so happened that, i met this admin person. Now admins, like in most offices, are like doctors who are visited only in times of need. And like most patients who visit the clinics, no one has any patience with them or for their work. And being year end, everyone were queuing up to get their documents xeroxed or scanned and it was a really long queue. Like the prime example for Murphy's law, when i was the th...

Once in a while certain questions..intriguing no doubt..causes a stir in mind so much that, it refuses to drown in the sea of forget. Here is one such question. It took me a while to think of a mokkai answer for this. But i am curious to know your responses for the same. Read this question on a tamil weekly magazine and here are both the tamil and english versions of it. A nice paradoxical one. "Ellaam valla iraivanaal..thannal thookka mudiaatha kallai padaikka mudiyuma?" "Can the almighty god create a stone which he cannot lift?" If the answer is yes or no for that matter, it would raise a question on the ALMIGHTY aspect of God. Let me not put any further deviations on your mind :) Happy hunting for the answer :)

Elo makkaas n makkis.. oru vazhia chennaila crash land aaiyaachu :) romba naala blogpakkam varalaya..chain smokerku thideernu dhammu kedaikatha epectla iruku :D athuvum inga no blog.. no gmail..no google..no laptop..no net..ada computeray ilapa. Etho color pottiku current connetion kuduthu vachirukanga. pora kuraiku fone kuda not allowedaam :( enna koduma ithu. Epppppiiidiii iruntha gils..ipdi aaitene :( (blog courtesy g3...intha bloga kuda g3 ubayathula thirutu connection use panni postaren...intha linea include panna thaan post panuvennu avanga kolanthaiaya meratinaangagaratha naan inga sola maaten) Mumbaiku kelambrathuku evlo izhuthu adichi..delay panni...poga ishtam ilama poneno..kelambrathu was direct opposite..lightening fast. Thanks to my team mate who booked ticket for me. Afternoon 1 PM ku book panraana munthina naal night 1 AM ku book panna parobagaari vaazhga. Athuvum domestic traveluku international connecting flighta book panni en mela iruntha kadupelam oray ticketla pazhi...

We are a group of 5 who share our apartment. Usually me and one more guy are the last to the leave the house everyday morning. Yesterday, the one who used to leave first for office, didnt come home till 11. I went to sleep after the usual book reading session at around 11.30. When i woke up i saw it was only me who was still lying on the mat while even the guy who leaves for office along with me, had already started folding his bed!! I was feeling very tired and sleepy and was in two minds whether i should take off or go late. Still managed to crawl..brushed teeth half sleeping and swtiched on the geyser. I turned back to see, suddenly it was pitch dark outside the bathroom!! Since the light was On inside, it wasnt power cut and i came out to see what was wrong. The guy who folded his bed, had moved to the hall and was again asleep!! Then only i noticed, it was dark outside the balcony too!!! I checked the time. It was 3AM!!! BOOOOHOOOOOOO!!! SOB SOB SOB!!! That useless guy afterwards ...

"Gils..aanilaam epdi iruku" oru varam leavela poiruntha damager returns. "All aanis pudungified opicer" "Kadisia oru mail vanthuchay..athu paathia?" "yes opicer" "Athula ketruntha detailslam explain panni detaila mail anupidu" "ok opicer" "Gils..porumaia nithanama mail anupu..as usual kovapattu kanna pinaanu mail anupidathaa.." ok..er...waaat???? kovamaaa??naanaaa? PKSla kamal tablea kuthi fan ceilingla idicha epectla i stood stunned for a minute!! Naan epo kovapaten?? atha ithu epo pathuchu?? Packet packeta tortoise koluthinaalum onum nyabgam varala.. "Machi..anniki athu evening 8.45ku oru change solitu intha kshanam mudichitu po sonapo murachiye..athukaga solirukumo?" "dei..en muzhiye apdithaanda.." "athuvum correct thaan..car windsheild kanakka oru kannadi maatikitu paathi neram nee ena reaction kudukaranay puria matenguthu" "dei.." "paathia kovapadriye" "naan...