ഏട്ടത്തി പ്രാവ്

തൊണ്ണൂറുകളുടെ അവസാനം, കൃത്യമായി പറഞ്ഞാൽ 1997 ജനുവരി മാസം. ചങ്ങനാശ്ശേരി എന്ന പുരാതന നഗരത്തിലെ പ്രശസ്തമായ കലാലയങ്ങളിൽ ഒന്നായ SB കോളേജിൽ പ്രീഡിഗ്രിക്ക് പഠിക്കുന്ന കാലം. പത്തു വർഷക്കാലത്തെ സ്കൂൾ ജീവിതത്തിനു ശേഷം കലാലയ ജീവിതം എന്ന സവിശേഷമായ ആനന്ദം അനുഭവിച്ചു പോന്നിരുന്ന നാളുകൾ. 

ഈ സമയത്താണ് മലയാള സിനിമയിൽ ഒരു മഹാത്ഭുതം സംഭവിക്കുന്നത്. അനിയത്തിപ്രാവ് എന്ന പേരിൽ ഒരു സിനിമ പുറത്തിറങ്ങി. തരളിതമായ വികാരങ്ങൾ ഏറ്റവും ഭംഗിയായി പ്രേക്ഷക മനസ്സിൽ ഉണർത്തിയ സിനിമയായിരുന്നു അത്. അതോടൊപ്പം ഇന്ന് കേരളം ഭയന്നു വിറക്കുന്ന ലഹരിയുടെ മറ്റൊരു രൂപവും അന്ന് കാണാൻ സാധിച്ചു. ഭയം എന്ന വികാരത്തിന് പകരം പ്രേമം എന്ന വികാരത്തിന് കേരളം അടിമപ്പെട്ടു. അക്കാലത്ത് ജീവിച്ചിരുന്ന ഒട്ടുമിക്ക യുവ മനസ്സുകളെയും ആൺ പെൺ വ്യത്യാസമില്ലാതെ, മാസ്മരികമായ സൗന്ദര്യത്തിലൂടെയും ചടുലമായ നൃത്തച്ചുവടുകൾ കൊണ്ടും വെള്ളിത്തിരയുടെ മാന്ത്രിക ലഹരിക്ക് അടിമപ്പെടുത്തിയ ഒരു യുവ നടൻ ജനിച്ചു. പേര് കുഞ്ചാക്കോ ബോബൻ അഥവാ മലയാളികളുടെ പ്രിയപ്പെട്ട ചാക്കോച്ചൻ. ആ കാലഘട്ടത്തിൽ ചെറുപ്പക്കാരുടെ ഹൃദയങ്ങളിൽ ഇത്രയേറെ പ്രേമത്തിന്റെ വികാരങ്ങൾ മുളപ്പിച്ച ഒരു നടൻ ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നോ എന്ന് ചോദിച്ചാൽ ഉത്തരം മറ്റൊന്നാവില്ല.

ചങ്ങനാശ്ശേരിയിൽ ഏഡൻസ് എന്ന പേരിൽ എൻറെ അപ്പൻ ഒരു ഐസ്ക്രീം പാർലർ തുടങ്ങിയിട്ട് ഏകദേശം 5 വർഷമായിരുന്നു. അനിയത്തിപ്രാവിന് മുമ്പ് പ്രീഡിഗ്രി കാലഘട്ടത്തിൽ ചാക്കോച്ചൻ പഠിച്ചിരുന്നത് SB കോളേജിൽ തന്നെയായിരുന്നു. അന്ന് കൂടെ പഠിച്ച സുഹൃത്തുക്കളെ കാണാനായി ഒരു ദിവസം ചാക്കോച്ചൻ ഏഡൻസിലെത്തി. അനിയത്തിപ്രാവിന്റെ റിലീസിന് ഏതാനും ദിവസങ്ങൾക്ക് ശേഷം ആയിരുന്നു അത്. കേരളം ചാക്കോച്ചനെ അറിഞ്ഞ് വരുന്നതേയുള്ളൂ. ചാക്കോച്ചൻ എത്തി, സുഹൃത്തുക്കളുമായി സംസാരിച്ചുതുടങ്ങി.

അപ്പോഴാണ് കുറച്ചപ്പുറത്ത് മാറി ഒരു ടേബിളിൽ നാലഞ്ച് യുവ സുന്ദരികൾ ഇരിക്കുന്നത് ചാക്കോച്ചൻ കാണുന്നത്. അനിയത്തിപ്രാവിന്റെ ഷൂട്ടിംഗ് സമയത്ത് എടുത്ത ഫോട്ടോസ് അടങ്ങിയ രണ്ടുമൂന്ന് ആൽബങ്ങളുമായി ആ പെൺകുട്ടികളുടെ അടുത്തേക്ക് നടന്നു. അവിടെ ചെന്ന് അവർക്ക് ആൽബം കൊടുത്തുകൊണ്ട് എല്ലാവരെയും മയക്കുന്ന ആ ചിരിയും ചിരിച്ചു അവിടെ നിന്നു. കൂട്ടത്തിലുണ്ടായിരുന്ന ഒരു കുട്ടി ആൽബം മറിച്ച് നോക്കി വിടർന്ന് മിഴികളോടുകൂടി ചാക്കോച്ചന്റെ മുഖത്ത് നോക്കി ഒരു ചോദ്യം ചോദിച്ചു:

'ഈ ഫോട്ടോയിലെ എല്ലാവരെയും ഞങ്ങൾക്ക് മനസ്സിലായി. പക്ഷേ താനാരാ?'

ഇന്ന്, അനിയത്തിപ്രാവ് ഇറങ്ങി 28 വർഷങ്ങൾക്ക് ശേഷം ചാക്കോച്ചൻ ഒരിക്കൽ കൂടി ആ പെൺകുട്ടിയെ കണ്ടുമുട്ടുകയാണെങ്കിൽ എന്തായിരിക്കും ആ കുട്ടിക്ക് പറയാനുണ്ടാവുക!

ഒരു മലയാളം അപാരത

ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് ട്രോളുകൾ കണ്ട് ഒരു വൈകുന്നേരം വീട്ടിലെത്തിയ ഞാൻ ന്യൂജനറേഷൻ രീതിയിൽ ഭാര്യയോട് ഒരു ഡയലോഗ് അടിച്ചു, 'How was your day baby?'

'ഭാ! അമ്മായിയെ കേറി ആണോടാ പേരെടുത്ത് വിളിക്കുന്നത് അലവലാതി?'

അപ്പൻറെ പെങ്ങൾ ബേബി ആൻറി വന്ന് തൊട്ടപ്പുറത്തെ മുറിയിൽ വിശ്രമിക്കുന്ന കാര്യം ഞാൻ അറിഞ്ഞില്ല!

അതോടെ ഏതായാലും ന്യൂജനറേഷൻ റൊമാൻസ് കെട്ടിപ്പൂട്ടി...

The Green Gaffe!

I always thanked my dad for instilling the travel bug in me. The very fact that he was a bank employee gave him the option to avail Leave Travel Concession. This was one of the perks for which he was entitled every year. Instead of consuming it annually, our preference was a five year chunk so that we could cover the maximum distance and the most number of days.

One such trip was to explore Delhi, the national capital followed by erstwhile Bombay and finally Goa. We had a tried and tested strategy which obviously worked out to be very economical those days. It was to target those locations where we already had relatives. This naturally helped to cut down the cost of accommodation and also to some extent, food and local travel expenses. I must remember with utmost reverence that those were the times when people never showed faces of displeasure when they had guests at home. Due credit goes to dad's amazing networking skills!

There we were, one fine day at the most happening part of the country, the wonderful city of Bombay! Dad's uncle was staying at Bandra, one of the well-off suburban areas in the city. They gave us a warm welcome and we relished their spirit of hospitality.

One of those days, dad's cousin decided to take us around the place and show us the real Bombay. It was a morning that saw slight drizzle. We took to the streets of Bandra which was trying to hide itself from the skies that opened its eyes. Little puddles of rain water clothed the roads. The tarred surfaces appeared polished and so we began our tour-de-Bombay.

My teenage mind was all excited to see a new part of the country. I looked up to the skies and shouted to the falling drops, "You just can't dampen my spirit with this!" We had started early in the morning and soon our stomachs started to add to the noises around us. A decent looking restaurant was round the corner and we decided to break the fast there.

I really am unable to trace back the time from which I started disliking mint leaves aka pudina. I was never able to appreciate the odor of the leaves and the dishes prepared, with that as an ingredient. I became so averse to pudina that I even wondered if I was allergic to that! Dad knew this pudina-phobia of mine and had warned me that you may find quite a few of these up in the North. I managed to avoid having a food item which had pudina while in Delhi and I was pretty confident that I could repeat the feat in Bombay as well. I somehow had this notion that south Indian cuisine does not use much of pudina.

The menu at the restaurant was not very enticing as most of the options were North Indian and I dreaded the green devil that will accompany the dish! Pages turned, options evaluated and finally at a completely insignificant corner of the menu I discovered a gem! A food item that brought some respite to my eyes but more so to the mind. A south Indian delicacy which I was sure not to have any of the stuff I hate the most. None other than a jewel from the land of Nizam, The Hyderabad Biriyani!

While the rest of the folks were open to experiment with their taste buds, I was contented with the good ol' South Indian food out of the sheer fear of pudina! Moments passed by, chit chats were reaching its pinnacle and slowly the food we ordered started showing up. The flavors of Bombay did a colorful pageant right in front of us. Tantalizing aromas filled the air. The renowned Indian cuisine which has created plentiful gourmets around the world woke up the counterpart within us. Everything we asked reached us except the one I was awaiting the most, biriyani. Guess, Hestia, the Greek goddess of hearth who presided over baking of bread, planned to test my patience level!

Everyone at the table was courteous enough to wait for my dish. But as the wait grew longer I suggested the rest of the folks not to wait any further. It seemed as though the restaurant folks are awaiting the next locomotive from Hyderabad to bring the biriyani! After what seemed like hours, a steward clad in a black and white vest came with a silver tray with an item he proudly announced as Hyderabad Biriyani.

He placed in front of me, an intricately designed copper-finish bowl with contents full to the edge. This was accompanied by a silver plated spoon so as to make the person feel special for ordering something as exotic as this. All what it took was one look at the bowl and I was totally disillusioned from tip to toe!

There it was, the carefully ordered menu item artistically decorated with pudina leaves so as to make a bed of green inviting me to dive in and have a painful death!

Game of Trunk

How unusual could names for games be?!! ‘Trunk’ was one such which used to generate so much of vigour, back when games meant more than PS3 and Xbox.

The mode of game was pretty simple, yet was one with a major impact on the players, literally and figuratively. A few stones, a ball and two teams were all that was needed. Those were the times when there was no dearth of getting kids from your neighbourhood to play along. I remember parents asking us to go out and play instead of being glued to the TV sets or video games which were just beginning to become a fad.

Back to the game, two teams will be formed. 7 pieces of stones will be made available. As in the case of any sport where decision making needs to be made, tossing a coin played a major role. The winning team gets to use the ball first. The pieces of stones have to be arranged one on top of the other. Aiming the ball at this stone pile follows. Each team gets three chances to hit the stack failing which the other team gets the turn.

All hell breaks loose as soon as at least one stone gets displaced! A totally irreverent melee follows! The team that played the ball runs for their life all the while looking at an opportunity to put the stack back in order. The most obvious action for the opposite team is to thwart that attempt at any cost.

One of the most exciting and painful sights of the game is to watch the ball fly at the speed of light with one of the poor souls trying to rearrange the pile as its target. Cries fill the air, pain fills the nerves, but the show must go on...

It was a game of exhilaration, sadistic pleasure and fraternity! One that taught team work, all the while reminding that you can achieve anything but of course with some pain!

Salute the good old days!

The Red Firewall

We were a bunch of half baked Management Grads back in 2005. It was time for our internship program and along with a friend of mine I kicked off a Market Research activity for an IT Firm. Our targets were CIOs [Chief Information Officer] of IT organizations. Figuring out the usage and scope for Network Security Products like Firewalls was to be our assignment.

And there we were, charting the longitude and latitude of the City of Bangalore, on a brand new bike knocking at the doors of every possible IT companies we could figure out. We'd to cover a minimum of ten firms a day. Our initial thought was ten is such a small number, but the facts of cold calls soon hit us real hard. Forget about meeting ten CIOs, getting an appointment a day became an event to celebrate! Many a times, we'd to split the areas between us to meet the target.

Destiny had it that two months of our lives were to continue in this fashion. It so happened that we were one short of our target on a promising Friday evening. All what we had to do was to finish off the last one and head back home. We were at one of the commercial hubs of South Bangalore and were sure to find an IT firm to fill our last slot.

Soon we found ourselves standing in front of a state-of-the-art building which had a pretty interesting name. Since we were in that part of the world where IT companies were giving competition to the population growth of the country itself, we were confident about our find. Walked we did, right through the front door and met an equally confident front desk assistant who welcomed us with a warm smile.

The usual drill was to ask for the CIO and push our chances for a short instant meeting. The receptionists usually oblige or politely deny. But this one proved to be a different animal altogether. She answered in negative to our query on CIO, but said they did have a Firewall. We found that interesting, though not surprising since there were many small IT firms without CIOs but one person handling multiple roles.

Our following question was about meeting the person who is in charge of the Firewall. Her answer baffled us. She said, "Sir, we don't have anyone like that. I manage it myself. In fact we got it only last week and installed". We were not sure if we should be confused or mighty impressed. Here's a receptionist who also doubles up as the Network Administrator! What a revelation?! All that and more were completely proved otherwise with her next statement. That totally pulled the rug from under our feet!

Her eyes twinkled and smile broadened when she said, "The best part is, it is Red in color and I love Red"!

We looked at each other and needless to say, were speechless. For a moment we even thought, perhaps there could be a brand new type of Firewall named in the likes of 'Bluetooth'! Sensing our confusion she asked us to follow her. Took us through a door besides the Front Office desk and blissfully pointed her finger at a direction and repeated those words, "That is our Red Firewall".

There it was, perched on a wall, laughing out loud, a Red colored Fire Extinguisher!!!

The Middle Line

Till the time you start living together under the same roof, you won't know each other that well – A profound statement, isn't it?!

Of course believing is one and experiencing is another.

An interesting irony about being married is that, while the common interests become a pat-on-the-back, the differences may quite well be a slap on the face! Yes, we were no different a couple in matters that could call for a routine change in the way of life.

Ruby loved coffee and I was a hardcore tea guy. I'd tried my luck before wedding itself, with a pseudo-chauvinist act and told her that our home will have no coffee brewing. She being the smarter one, didn't of course commit anything and patiently waited for the day I reduced to my half and she filled the other.

Man! Was I not happy, the first few days, when the aroma of tea filled every corners of our sweet little home? Little did I know that she has a Masters in Ego Massage! It is truly commendable, the way with which the woman of the house brings in some changes in your life and you won't even know it.

Soon the aroma-adorned corners started dwindling. The fragrance of Coorg became a frequent visitor during our mornings. Fortunately evenings were blessed with flavors of Darjeeling*. This of course proved to be an interim peacemaker deal. It didn't take much time for us to realize, these places can't co-exist.


We perhaps required a Middle Line of Control. Thoughts and ideas came and went. The union of geographies seemed a distant reality. Many crusades were launched for Coorg; Darjeeling was never behind in that historical battle. Sparks lit up the skies, Guns were fired and finally the War of Taste Buds came to an end.

We now share a common love for Bournvita :)

* Coorg is known for Coffee & Darjeeling for Tea.

Where do I fit this...!

Ruby & I have been pretty busy off late setting up our home. Taking heed from a bunch of my married friends I'd got only very few stuff for the house before the wedding. The 1BHK we hired was almost empty when we walked into our home, together for the first time! We did take our baby steps and started getting the basic gear necessary to get things going.

We kept furniture shopping towards the end. With appliances and various paraphernalia related to kitchen getting removed from the mile long list we prepared, it was time for us to get into the business of making our home guest-worthy! Thus we started our visits to the street closer to our place which was sprinkled with furniture stores. We zeroed in on a dining table and a computer table from one of the shops. We found ourselves lucky at a larger store when we came across a piece of furniture which the Indians happily call sofa-cum-bed, as naughty as it sounds!

The first store defaulted at least six times in terms of delivering the items whereas the latter was too diligent in updating us about the delivery. This was in fact a pleasant surprise for us since the first store was a specialty one whereas the second was generic. While we were thoroughly disappointed with the service of the store one, the sheer customer delight with the second compensated for that. Our sofa-cum-bed was delivered as promised. They informed that the assembling will happen the next day. We were informed the next day that, unfortunately the technician who was supposed to help us, fell sick and hence there will be a delay of one more day. While we were sad for the technician, we felt happy again about the initiative they took to keep the customer informed about the change in schedule, unlike the store one where we'd to call them each time to know that there would be additional delay!

Jalandar, the technician arrived as informed and unpacked his tool kit. He looked really professional with all the required equipments being fished out of his bag. He took a look at the packed furniture box and we missed the slight concern that flashed over his face! His question, "Is it a sofa-cum-bed?" also did not sound odd then. The pack contained multiple pieces of wood, mattress, wheels and screws which soon started occupying our living room. We watched the expert getting to the seemingly simple task of assembling the furniture. We were sure that it must be a cake walk for him; after all he was a technician from a professional organization!

The first couple of pieces were assembled with much ease and we were thrilled to see our home soon becoming even more beautiful a place to live in! Jalandar started with the next set of pieces. A small question cloud suddenly popped up above our head when he continued to gaze at the remaining pieces. The typical blank stare that appear when you are lost, was painted all over his face! He suddenly started to search for something. When asked, he said he was looking for the assembling manual but unfortunately that never came along with the furniture pack. He tried to figure out the rest of the pieces and our question cloud got bigger.

We asked what the trouble was and he gave us an incredible answer which swept off the whole professional experience about which we were really proud till a few minutes back! He said, "Sir, I joined only a week back and I've no clue how to assemble this thing"! Being dumbstruck was the least we could say. Nevertheless, we started looking at the pieces together. All the jigsaw puzzles we played when we were young and the truly awesome experience of assembling an IKEA furniture for my boss while onsite helped big time!

We did manage to solve the jigsaw together and the lovely sofa-cum-bed was ready in no time! We were indeed happy about ourselves and took our time to stand back and appreciate the new addition to our home that is all ready to receive the guests. All the thoughts about team work and motivation crossed our minds and our joy was endless! We were contented and thanked the guy for all the help. This was nothing but a true case study and we even thought of publishing it to the store as the benefits of customer and the supplier getting to work together.

Jalandar packed his tool kit and was about to leave when we noticed a medium sized piece of wood and a bunch of screws lying behind! They seemed to be giving us a wicked smile and we'll probably need to learn multiple languages to express the mixed emotions that crossed our minds! So much for the instant customer-supplier partnership funda!

Footnote: The fellow agreed to check back with the store and fix the furniture at the earliest :)

When I told the Indian High Commissioner to go away!

A not so small question-mark with a bright halo formed right above my head when I got a call from Dats, my boss, one fine morning. He wanted me to come down to Phase 1 to Faculty room immediately! Though it had been two years after I passed out of college, this suddenly reminded me of the many occasions such calls came from professors in my department. Imagine my plight when Dats added the statement that Subroto wanted to meet me! My first ever personal encounter with the man who made MindTree!

It turned out to be a very interesting request from Subroto which I grabbed even before giving him an option to think again. The Indian High Commissioner to Malaysia was visiting West Campus along with his family and Subroto wanted me to give them a Campus-tour. He also told me about a leadership session he'll be involved in, till 5 PM and wanted me to bring the High Commissioner and family to him sharp at 5. I was all thrilled and made the necessary arrangements to welcome the high profile delegate and his family.

The hot afternoon sun gave way to a much pleasant weather. The High Commissioner arrived with his wife and two children. They were given a good reception and the Campus-walk plan was put into action. As it was usually done, we started at the Living Logo, proceeded to the History Wall and gave them a glimpse of what made MindTree as it stands today. They were further escorted to one of the most happening locations in the campus, The Orchard! I took them around to various other attractions in the campus all the while being conscious of the time limit which was soon approaching.

Quarter to 5 we were at the fag end of our campus-walk. With the successful completion of the visit I took them back to Kalpavriksha and reached there exactly at 5. Subroto seemed to be in his charismatic best having a bunch of top leaders as his audience. Since it didn't look like he was going to wind up the session any time soon, I decided to show up myself and informed that the High Commissioner and family was outside, waiting for him! He said something which I could not comprehend even with the remotest possible logical sense, at least at that moment! He just told me to ask them to go away! I stood there for a couple of seconds genuinely hoping that he would have an after thought. Neither did he have nor did he seem to be concerned about repeating the same words to me!

I got out and tried to mask all the embarrassment on my face and told the Indian High Commissioner to go away! I don't recollect even a single other instance in my life when I felt so weird. The feeling became all the more intense with the delegate and family taking it very lightly and thanked me for giving them a tour. We exchanged our cards and then they were gone.

While Subroto continued with his leadership-team session, I walked back with a bunch of much larger sized question-marks, minus the halo, all over my head. I met Sachin Joshi who earlier gave me some ideas on the campus-walk and told him about how it went and especially the dramatic ending. I still remember the smile he had in his face when he made a statement that made my initial embarrassment practically insignificant.

He said, "The High Commissioner is Subroto's brother-in-law"!