The Telepathic Hug

How many times when you are filled with sorrow or surrounded by happiness and excitement have you wished you had your friend to give a hug, a bear hug at that? A zillion times in my case.

Many a time, during my college life when my heart used to weigh down, have I sought comfort in the ‘hug’. All my foster sisters were good at those spirit-raisers. In particular I remember after one marathon waterworks session, which failed to cease even with the help of my pillow, I asked Sreeja to give me a hug. It was such an emotional pick-up for me. Hugs, they indeed do wonders to the heart.

I even remember hugging a stuffed toy dog Vidhu got from her Xmas friend (a life-sized Pommeranian, something she eventually gave me) & Marilyn’s ‘Huggable’ teddy bear, a really cuddly fluorescent green teddy she was gifted by Abid. The teddy was a thing of comfort for a whole lot of us hostellers.

What if no one’s around? That’s when the imaginary hug comes into action. Back to my college days, one ever-huggable person was Abid, and would have done so had the ‘rules of life’ permitted to, maybe Derwi too. I’ve couriered lots of hugs via e-cards & e-mails to my overseas friends like Vidhu, Marilyn, Sreeja, Angela.

Of late for the support lent to me - sometimes as a troubled soul, other times for humoring me & my fanciful imagination, I’ve hugged them in my mind to show them how well they mean to me, how I value their listening to me, how they boost my morale sometimes even unknowingly to them. This is what I’ve termed the ‘telepathic hug’, for I wish for them to know it while it happens. Marilyn, Supin, Isaf and Thanju, just to let you know in case you haven’t got my telepathic hug. What stops me from the actual hug is either distance-bound constraints or that it explicitly states in the book on ‘rules of life’. Thanju, remember ‘Rules 2’? ; -P

Mmm..Funny that the hug factor never even crossed my mind with my other set of friends who too are great pillars of my sane life – my classmate friends. Maybe coz I consider them at par with me and the hug is for those whom I look up to, an exception being Thanju who’s a good 3 years my junior.

There’s one more hug I cherish a lot. When that pair of arms, small yet strong, wrap around me, you suddenly feel the world’s once more a lovely place filled with love, happiness & innocence. My niece, Janaina, she gives the best of hugs a 5-year old can give :D My hugs to her too….

'King of Pop' Glory

So every once in a while we keep reading in the papers that Michael Jackson may soon be recording another album. How many of you are disgusted by the idea or go ‘no not that freak again in the tabloid again?’

And how many of these same people used to listen to his songs – Thriller, Black or White, Bad, Heal the World? Let me remind you that when Channel [V] introduced the ‘artist of the month’ feature sometime in the mid 90's, MJ was crowned their very first artist of the month, with captions like ‘King of Pop’ - something that everyone indisputably agreed.

True that I too couldn’t stand his antics & watched his downfall with a disapproval shake of the head, but isn’t it only fair to give that guy a second chance, after all he was indeed the king of pop?

My comfort zone

The ‘Aqua’ mini mart, attached to the new Enoc petrol bunk that opened recently. It’s just a stone’s throw away from my place. When I feel the need to indulge, I go there shopping (subject to the depth of my wallet, of course), normally a snack & a drink along with the day’s copy of ‘gulf news’. The 3-inch thick paper of which it’s only the main paper and the sports supplement & the tabloid that interests me.

The best part of the tabloid’s the quick crossword puzzle, the Sudoku & the latest of the lot that’s caught my interests : ‘Kakuro’…none of these being good places to vent your frustration, but extremely good means to distract the mind, with the brain activity diverted, I think it’s as good as yoga (not that I’ve tried a hand at that). With a choice of 3 puzzles to solve, you don’t realize how time flies.

Aqua certainly brings tranquility to my ever-perturbed mind.

My Shopping List

My cousin’s on a weeklong break visiting his family in Delhi.
He messaged me,

‘Anything you want from here?’

My reply,

‘Just a box of mom’s migraine medicine – “Vasograin”.’

In retrospect, I should have replied,

‘Yea, a box of the famed Nattu’s cashew barfi, a pair of those new lovely long earrings that’s the rage now. A booster shot of high morale and a donor for a *** *********** ********* - a considerate one at that. And maybe some pills for preserving sanity.’

Under the Weather

December 31st, The last day of 2005.

I decided to revisit some of the elements that might one day change the course of my life. They very well had set the course..just awaiting the change.

The 2 elements: Shiji, my colleague/friend/confidante from Lunad. More importantly, my first married friend. I went to Lunad to meet her & also Madhavi, but she was busy with pagination and all. Our rendezvous was good as always.

After meeting Shiji, I headed to Bur Juman to meet the 2nd element, Supin. It was a long time since we met, moreover we hardly ever managed to speak for more than 13 seconds (superstitious??!!) thanx to our erratic work hours. So we decided to catch up over lunch.

I reached quite early for our lunch, so to kill time I went window shopping . I was browsing @ Magrudy's and I came across a 'Michael Moore' book. I can't quite remember the title, I think its 'Dude, where's my country?'. I read an official looking page right in the beginning of the book, a letter from the CIA!! I decided I had to read that book. It was hilarious.

And then it was 1 o'clock & I finally met Supin. Its always nice to meet a close friend of yours. Here in the UAE, its either Supin, Nitin, Nijaz or Shiji (the latest of my friends). That day I was meeting 3 out of the 4.

Comparing diet notes with Supin while he munched away his fried chicken and I waited for my pita bread sandwich. Checking who had a busier work schedule and whose social life was sorrier. After exchanging notes & summarizing the year that thankfully whizzed away (what with the heart wrenching drama & penny pinching weeks and all I was constantly under the weather), it was time to leave.

Though it was just an hour long, it sure was good. I guess that happens with good friendships. For instance, though the only communication between Shruthi n me is through Nitin, when I meet her in person in India, it feels like we're always connected. That happens through time. This time it was something Supin said that hit home, something even many people would overlook. It felt good anyway.

Now I set out to meet the 3rd friend, Nijaz. I was waiting at the bus depot for the bus that never seemed to be coming. It was a long wait, but I found it extremely refreshing, for I was listening to a soothing song over the radio (instinctively I started recording it). I got hooked to it instantly & played it all the way till the doorsteps of my friend's place. The song said something about rain and getting soaked to the skin.

Apart from the song the other refreshing element while at the depot was the weather - cloudy & windy. It was fantastic, with the perfect breeze that brings a pleasant chill to the atmosphere, the light sprinkling of raindrops where you don't need to scamper to get under a cover. Altogether it was a perfect ambience that complemented a lousy year; the perfect ending to a far-from-perfect year. In fact, December 31st 2005 was the best day the year, for my soul & for my body.

What sheer coincidence that the song I got hooked to that evening was connected to rain. Even more coincident is the title of the song which I learnt about just a few weeks back...its called 'Under the Weather' & the artist is KT Tunstall

Rain in Dubai, Picture time

It was my mom's b'day on 24th Feb. That day being a Friday, it started off with an early-for-a-weekend morning drive through the city which is a norm for us. What wasn't norm were the rainclouds that visited the coast. For some, the rain was awesome, while for others it was awful, what with the havoc it created in a city completely unprepared for any kind of rain. For me, it was awesome. For my mom, that was the first gift of the day from us. For my dad, it was photo time.

The picture above was taken at the Mamzar Corniche.

Here I am posting a few photoes I took that day. Keep in mind it was raining while I was photographing & the pictures were taken with a minimum amount of fuss inorder to protect my un-waterproofed digital camera from the rain. I was using my mom's dupatta to shield my digicam.


I am pretty pleased by the outcome. Let me know what you think.



Now you know what I meant about my dad :)



Mom & Dad in one frame...A rare picture..a good one too :)

The smell of rain

In the wake of the recent rains we had here in Dubai, the cogs of my brain took a different turn; here's all about rain.

I've heard many people living here in this desert reminiscing about rain and the smell of wet mud that emanates with the first showers of the season. Everytime I hear them say that I used to go, "Ugh! It definitely is not what you'd call fragrance." This was before I went to India for further studies.

After 6 years of monsoons & scores of rain baths in Kerala, my olfactory senses too picked up a liking for that earthy fragrance..yes I use the term 'fragrance' for even if the odor isn't all too pleasing, the memories it brings back are pleasant. Now I know why the elders loved the atmosphere after the first rain. I yearn for those times when I lived a care-free life, surrounded by friends and loved one , playing with the rain, singing with it (my song mate being Marilyn).

One particular ocassion I remember very clearly, one of my best times with rain: After FE-II exam in first year, Shruthi n myself were on our way out of the campus after the exam at Siberia (in CUSAT, not in Russia), we were walking. It started raining cats & dogs, and in spite of the umbrellas we were carrying, we got drenched (minus our heads) in seconds. Both Shruthi & yours truely having been the devils we were, decided out of a whim to get completely drenched. Enjoying the rain, chatting & singing away to glory pretty much the way you see in movies, minus the dancing of course, we had a ball of a time. Seniors must have thought,"Freshers...Gulf-NRI's...having their go at rain-fun."

I think that was the beginning of voluntary drenching. Wonderful start. Then there were countless encounters in the terrace of our hostel, with all the privacy we could ask for, it was sheer bliss. Then there were rains under our much loved hangout, our tharavaadu - the cycle shed, even bike rides in the rain, that was jolly good. The trip from Port Trust was one of those.

Rain reminds me of an era of eternal bliss that used to soothe my soul, an era long gone.

Letter Power

I just finished a round of SCRABBLE with dad. After getting terrible tiles 3 times in a row, for this game I wished for a good set of tiles. While during my unlucky streak I got clusters of I's or E's along with useless letters like V, L & C; this time I got a Q, Z & a Joker at the start of the game and it was my chance to start. While I usually love getting high scored tiles, during my unlucky streak it was a terror getting the Q without the mandatory U or any Jokers.

It was damn frustrating to get 3 R's & an I when I had exchanged them for the excess 2 I's & 2 R's I had. Today I was exhilarated getting really good tiles, all the 4 S's at regular intervals, the K which came rite on time so that I could keep 'knived', even the X I got in the lee end of the game came with E, I & T as in to form 'exit'.

I must say, my dad kept his cool & played as well as he could with the tiles he got. Though I won by over a 100 points, dad didn't complain about his draw of tiles, something which I'd do. On that note, I must add that I should learn not to whine about my tiles anymore, it's more graceful...