He He He!

I am feeling good. A little embarrassed though, that i read my first Mills and Boons this late in life! Was a nice read! For all you twenty somethings, who have not read a Mills and Boons, get your hands on one! It is perfecty fine to read one, whether you are a giggly giddy headed teenager or a twenty something in a not so happening relatioonship. Someone told me guys should'nt read one. I wonder why. Do let me know if you know the answer.

Balloons!

Balloons! Four white ones and a pleasant pink one in between! Little fingers clasping the crape paper to which this ensemble was attached! How inspiring! To me, the sight was more than inspiring. When one is sitting in a baked bus, past lunch time, after having attended a strenous class, that too on a hot Sunday after noon, the sight is more than inspiring. It is like a cool refreshing breeze that sets you reflecting about some of the good things in life!
This little boy , clasping these colourful baloons was standing opposite to me. I was amused. He had this," I am the happiest person in this world! I have Balloons. Pink and White!" expression written on his face! And he looked at me with his delightful smile. So innocent . And so genuine. I felt like doing something. Something interesting. I kept staring at his Baloons. He started feeling insecure. I liked it. I pointed my long nailed index finger towards his Baloons and told him, "DUM" ! Fear gripped his eyes. Just the thought that i may burst his "Pink and White" balloons had unnerved him. He instantly moved back. Lifted his arm as erect as he could, so that he could hold the balloons as far away from me , his Devil. He stood in this " attention" position, keeping a close on vigil on me. And his lips gave way to this smile, which meant ," Now you cannot burst them!".
I sat there quietly, grinning at him. Ten minutes passed. He was still keeping a vigil. His mom, closely monitoring the whole episode asked him to relax. He looked up to his mom and pointing towards me , he told her, "DUM" ! His mom comforted him in her arms and told him, " Akka wont do anything , Dont worry." . I gave him a look of re assurance. And folded my arms across tightly. He seemed convinced. He smiled. Innocence. Trust. Joy.
I reached my destination. I walked out of the bus, watching this little boy with his " Pink and White" delightful balloons. His innocence brought me more delight. Even I must have been like him some day, .....care free and innocent....many many years ago.... when Balloons meant the world to me!

Chess Tournament!

NOTE: This post is more like a page from my dairy. So the readers( if any) can skip it!
It could not have got closer than this. Sniffing vivtory, but losing sight again. We girls Chess team at end of 3rd round in the VTU inter college Chess tournament were 9 points and were leading the tournament. SJCE and NIE were on 8.5 each. The 4th round was the final round. We had to play the mighty SJCE team, and NIE played an easier team. We just needed to get 2 out of 4 to ensure that we get winners or runners. But we ended up getting only 1. 5 . So that left us with 10.5 and NIE and SJCE on 11. It was a serious anti climax for us. Since it was my last tournament in college life, I really wanted to our team to win. So that leaves a dream unfullfilled.

On the brighter side, I was awarded the board prize winner , as i had won all the 4 matches i played. Is is a personal milestone for me. I still have not stopped thinking about it. Just a look at the certificate makes me feel elated!

Besides , in the final round, i made a blunder in my game. I lost my queen for no joy in the world! But i played really well and i got back, and was 2 queens up at the end of the game! It was one awesome win for me!

From playing dumb chess in the 1st yr of my college, it has been a great journey for me. I ended up being a board winner in VTU inter college level! Besides, last year our girls team were Runners up in the same tournament.

It makes me feel good. So i decided that my mom should buy me a nice tee shirt today! Just to celebrate my victory! I think i play decent chess now. Not dumb chess anymore. I will miss the fun and joy of participating in this tournament as i am passing out from my college. I will miss this unknown stranger friend of mine( from some college) who kept smiling at me in the tornament, this year and last year! I will miss all my team mates. I love the game!

Orkut temporarily not available!

Well that is the sole reason for me to add this post!
But may be i should have something worthwhile to share in this post. But i have not been upto anything that is close to "worth while" in the past few months. So let me tell you about how i kill my time. It is an art. To kill time, and to still feel that you are busy. That way you dont get bored and feel good about yourself.
Chess practise. That is something i have been doing for the past 1 week. I sincerely put aside all other work and go to the sports complex in my college, daily in the after noon and play chess with my team mates till 6! What is the other work that i put aside to do this. Well i tell my project mates, that i need to go for practise, we have inter collegiete VTU chess Tournament coming week, and i need to go , and so on. They are more than glad to send me off, as i am a spectator in the project group. And not mute spectator! I keep yapping and trouble them and always suggest them to take a coffee break in the mornings or a tea break in the after noons. So they prefer not having me around.
So i get to be in the sports complex. I like it. I bully my team mates, who are my juniors. Luckily the chess team captain was a little busy and was not turning up for practise. So that makes me feel like the most senior player out there. Considering that i have played twice before in the tournament, and my other team mates are making their debut. I have repeatedly told them that we came runners up last year in the tournament. I keep making them play versus one another. I sit back and assess. And gleefully point out their errors. I interrupt them and say, "you could have done this ya" ! It makes me feel so intelligent and big.
Till i myself played today with my junior team mate. And she mated me! I meant in the game ;)
Never mind, i was just trying to boost her confidence. You see it is a part of my team building strategies.
Tomorrow the chess captain will be back. And with that my air of superiority will come down to tolerable limits.
Continuing , with my art of killing time. I have been reading a book. 100 Encounters. By Sham Lal.Very dense. I cannot follow a single sentence with ease. It deals with globalistion and end of Cold war and Socialism and market economy. Well this book is very useful. I just need to read 1 paragraph. And immediately sleep gets the better of me. So that helps me in falling asleep even i am just not sleepy.
Chess tournament in a couple of days. So u see, i am busy. I love the game. It makes me feel intelligent when i play chess. I also feel good about bragging that i play for college. The bullying of juniors adds to the charm. And the book makes me feel well read, though i read very little a day. But I feel good about myself. And my activities.
Will tell you what happens in the tournament. U see , its girls chess. So i dont like getting mated.

Food, gossip and lazy after noons!

Statuatory warning: All those people who are living far away from their homes, or are earning big bucks living in a distant foreign city and missing out on sumptous meals at your Granny's place.......... pls dont read it. As it may result in home sickness or a dangerous desire to return back home , which may not be very healthy for your spouse or it will make your white skinned boss grow red!
A little bit of background explanation now. My mom and I reached our Grany's place in Chennai, the hot and humid ctiy downsouth of India. It was a Sunday morning and i got up at eleven in the morning, as it is customary to do so when you go to your grany's place. First things first. You get loads of comments and compliments about your minuscule changes in appearance! Compliments range from from clearer skin to loss in weight! And then ofcourse, i settle down comfortably for breakfast. Well , since it is a Sunday, i get lucky! My grany serves me 2 jasmine white idlies..... with the world's best curry.......... before i break the suspense about the curry..... a little bit of beating around the bush would make me feel happy..... the curry has a history to it! Earlier it was had with hot oily maida puries, but as people got a little more health conscious, white soft idlies took over the place! Never mind if the curry is on the list of "things to avoid for gonna be brides who wanna shed some weight" ! Well, no more guesses! Its the delicious kheema curry with lots of coconut and lip smacking masala! And i gulp down many idlies.... come on, only morons keep a count of how much they eat....... may be lets have a new saying..... just like ' dance like no one's watching"........... say i'll put it as..."eat like you dont know counting!"
The rest of the morning goes in chit chatting , gossiping and wondering what my mom and aunt would do if they ever go to their "happily married -off -daughters "places in Australia or Singapore.......... Well i for sure know that they would call me up from there and beg me to get them back to India and give them one plate of "rasam " rice with dried smelly fish!
I have just had my breakfast, and in no time, my cousin gets me soup.........hot horsegram soup with a strong flovour of pepper and lemon! delicious! And she also tells me about how she has been having carrot juice and tomato juice regularly.... and that they are good for one's skin and figure! So thats interesting right! all over the world people are getting more health conscious! But there are readers like you , who find 'kheema curry' more interesting than ' carrot juice' !
The usual over dose of snacks which both my aunts keep giving me alternately, leaves me with a meagre appetite for lunch. Nevetheless, i want to share with you what i had the next day, as it is very interesting!
As i have a late bath, the smell of fish curry welcomes me to my plate of lunch! Steamed hot rice with mild yellow sambar!Masala flavoured ' Genna' ( fish eggs) to add to the taste! A little bit of genna with hot sambar rice does all the magic in the world! and thats not it! My aunt gets this plate full of fried matthi fish, so crisp and brown, and so very tasty! I eat non stop like I have never seen food before! And you also get prawns with raddish to add spice to your "great Indian Grany's house meal" ! And even the masala flavoured butter milk that my Grany makes is so pleasant for the taste buds....... that at this stage , i cant but extend my sincere condolences to all those people who stay in distant lands , far and away from their Grany's place! And for those of you who can afford an holiday, do go to your Grany's place and have a ' happy eating time' and experience the warmth and joys of staying indoors in your Grany's place with lots of interesting gossip, delectable food and lazy after noons!