Hostel life was tough in the first year; No AC to fight the ‘Chennai heat’ and the mosquitoes seemed to love me; I did not know how to use an Asian closet and going to toilet became a herculean task; Above all I missed home…. And KFC.
Our college hostel , The SRM college hostel was rightly called the Sambar- Rasam- Moru Hostel. Be it lunch or dinner, you could relish in an unlimited supply of these three. The two days they serve chicken for dinner was well awaited by me. Those days I start feeling hungry from 5pm. Though it tasted sad and had more bones than meat in tons of gravy, I still enjoyed it till I started hearing ‘rumours’ that every time we were served chicken, a stray dog in the neighborhood went missing, Then, my only hope was on the weekend trip to city with friends….they for shopping and I to eat chicken.
By now you must have got an idea what an ardent lover of chicken I am, and was even nick-named 'chikku' by friends. But my sister on the other hand can eat literally any crap, be of any colour, size, shape and taste. Ofcourse she is very particular that the thing she eats shouldn’t be alive and I respect that. As for my husband, he claims that he has eaten a good fleshy piece of snake, Thanks to his ex-roommate, a Filipino guy. For record sake: If I had known this before we got married, I would have had second and third thoughts on our marriage.
Now when I think back I feel sorry for my mom, almost! From childhood I was so fussy about food. I wanted chicken for every meal, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner and if not I wouldn’t grumble… nor frown…just that my hunger would disappear! And my poor mom makes it a point to get me chicken in some form or the other just to make sure I eat. One yummy item she made us often when we were kids were beef cutlets. I used to love it thinking it was a chicken snack by the name ‘beef’. The day I had the revelation that beef is not a snack, but the meat of cow, I stopped it and decided never to eat mammals. This decision was made after proper research that chicken was not a mammal but laid eggs…yeyeye! Smart me!
I had my baby after an unexpected delay which scared me. During the time I was undergoing the treatment I promised myself to quit something that means a lot to me when I have my baby or rather if I have a baby. What to give up, I had a few choices before me that was quite dear to me. They were My Dad, My Mom, My Sister, My Hubby and My Chicken. It was a difficult decision to make and after a great deal of thinking, I decided to give up my beloved chicken and keep the others! My family was very upset by my decision, mainly because they feared if I would die of starvation.
It has been more than six months since I had chicken and it is not very difficult not to have it but it is an ultimate test when someone hogs it in front of me. WARNING: if you decide to gulp down a piece of chicken before me, please be prepared for tummy aches and very loose motion!
And considering my daughter is indeed a darling, it doesn’t feel like a big deal now… though my appetite has reduced considerably. As for my daughter, I have warned her that if she ever thinks of eloping with any moron, that day I would order myself a huge plate of chicken tikka and munch on it to my hearts content!!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
My Guardian Angel...without wings...
It is interesting how my sister and I became close. Interesting because it was not a natural phenomenon in our case… instead I was so scared of her when I was a little girl that my mother used her as a weapon to reform my ways. She was so matured beyond her age and such a taskmaster that she was a easily hatable target from a little sister's point of view.
Now to the part that ‘catalysed’ our relation… I am not boasting when I say that I have high investigative skills, which is how I found out about her 'big secret'… I was pleased to see miss perfect sweating. She had no choice but take me into her confidence lest I open my not-so-small mouth to our parents. And thus at the age of 11, I became her right hand, almost literally for since then we were always together.
It was a very pleasing feeling to share such a deep intimacy with a person as her who drew an invisible line around her, a line which she did not allow many to cross. I was secretly thrilled when people commented that to know whats running in checha’s mind, all they have to do is get hold of me. And it did bring along bad luck to me, when my sister dear did something taboo, dad and mom literally chased me around the house for all the ‘why, what, where and how’… but mind you, despite all the mental torture I had to endure, I never spilled any of 'her' beans…and this continues till date!
She, whom I adoringly call checha is the one who prepared me for puberty, she is the one who taught me how to handwash clothes without overusing soap, she is the one who blantly told me, ‘NO he is not the one for you’, she is the one who kept reminding me that labour pain is not as bad as they show in movies!The ones who has seen my checha would agree with me when I say that she is absolutely beautiful and was quite popular in school and had all qualities that could easily spark jealousy in me but that never happenned between us. On the contrary, I was so proud of her that she became the feather in my otherwise plain hat.
I was very meek and a nervous kid when in school, probably what they describe as a ‘nerd’. Many of my old schoolmates whom I met recently were amused and some where shocked at the ‘so-called-change’ in my attitude. Bolder? Stronger? Interesting adjectives. To a large degree they are true… and to a larger degree I am sure that I was inspired….motivated….influenced by words spoken by her, my Godmother.
I jokingly call her my pheonix bird... that is because at one point I saw my checha weakening. But she fought that passing phase ...and rose from those dull, grey ashes to live her life. I wanted to begin this blog with something not materialistic... something thats not short-lived, but about something that is priceless and so very important to my very existence .. and what better can i write about but my checha?
However stressed out I am, or whatever dilemmas I may have, just a few words with her, and I am a much happier person.. and that is mutual I am sure. From the day I ‘caught’ her 15 years back to till date when we both have our busy lives and responsibilities, our bond just grows stronger day by day.
Now to the part that ‘catalysed’ our relation… I am not boasting when I say that I have high investigative skills, which is how I found out about her 'big secret'… I was pleased to see miss perfect sweating. She had no choice but take me into her confidence lest I open my not-so-small mouth to our parents. And thus at the age of 11, I became her right hand, almost literally for since then we were always together.
It was a very pleasing feeling to share such a deep intimacy with a person as her who drew an invisible line around her, a line which she did not allow many to cross. I was secretly thrilled when people commented that to know whats running in checha’s mind, all they have to do is get hold of me. And it did bring along bad luck to me, when my sister dear did something taboo, dad and mom literally chased me around the house for all the ‘why, what, where and how’… but mind you, despite all the mental torture I had to endure, I never spilled any of 'her' beans…and this continues till date!
She, whom I adoringly call checha is the one who prepared me for puberty, she is the one who taught me how to handwash clothes without overusing soap, she is the one who blantly told me, ‘NO he is not the one for you’, she is the one who kept reminding me that labour pain is not as bad as they show in movies!The ones who has seen my checha would agree with me when I say that she is absolutely beautiful and was quite popular in school and had all qualities that could easily spark jealousy in me but that never happenned between us. On the contrary, I was so proud of her that she became the feather in my otherwise plain hat.
I was very meek and a nervous kid when in school, probably what they describe as a ‘nerd’. Many of my old schoolmates whom I met recently were amused and some where shocked at the ‘so-called-change’ in my attitude. Bolder? Stronger? Interesting adjectives. To a large degree they are true… and to a larger degree I am sure that I was inspired….motivated….influenced by words spoken by her, my Godmother.
I jokingly call her my pheonix bird... that is because at one point I saw my checha weakening. But she fought that passing phase ...and rose from those dull, grey ashes to live her life. I wanted to begin this blog with something not materialistic... something thats not short-lived, but about something that is priceless and so very important to my very existence .. and what better can i write about but my checha?
However stressed out I am, or whatever dilemmas I may have, just a few words with her, and I am a much happier person.. and that is mutual I am sure. From the day I ‘caught’ her 15 years back to till date when we both have our busy lives and responsibilities, our bond just grows stronger day by day.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
