10 reasons y i love Chandler,AZ

10 reasons y I love Chandler
1) my gang - Fun is the word that best describes us. So much that we get constant requests from ppl inviting themselves for our tea breaks :P It's a privilege to be a part of my gang. Almost like being an elite member of sum society.
2))woodlands- a perfect south Indian restaurant that makes amazing north indian food too ( this one is for "someone"s love ..who happens to be VERY regional :P)  . A place where the owner let's our gang keep "account"
3) my gang - we ve redefined tea break at intel. Tea breaks are no More abt Walkin down to the cafe getting coffee n going back. It requires some planning. Stocking up on milk bikis n Marie n good day, reserving the corner table in the cafe n having an elaborate session of ruining someone's reputation. Let's jus say that "someone" is almost always the same person. Oh wait, can "that" be classified as a human?
4)oct-nov weather - nothin like it. Those 2 months are pure bliss. Ok let's not talk abt the previous 2 months :P
5)my gang- my best friends happen to be the best cooks I ve ever met. I ve had the best tasting brinjal dish here. And the thaalipeeth. And bisi bele bath. And butter pound cake. And spinach rasam. And.. Time to eat sumthin, this point has made me hungry.
6)The wide smooth roads- I love the fact that even interior roads are 3 lane roads and freeways are 5 lane. Best part being everyone wants to drive in the 2 rightmost lanes . So it's almost like having 3 hov lanes :)
7)Dust storms n thunder storms- they are a delight to watch, yes, only to watch . And did I mention the condition that I shouldn't watch the latter while am alone :D
8)my apartment - the first ever time I have had the money n privilege to color coordinate n decorate an entire apartment like I wanted :)
9) the strategic location- 5 hrs in almost any direction and u reach a cool city :) eg:Vegas, san Diego, LA :) and the absolute coolness is driving 2 hrs north and reaching places 20 degrees cooler. Fabulous day trip option.
10) my gang- ok..u get the point :D

When I got here last summer , I wasn't  very sure I wud like the place . Its amazing how I m typing this entire post in my fone in my flight journey. It's awesome how nature lets u adapt to everything and beautiful how the mind n heart find priceless relationships everywhere. Love u guys ( kt Nisha Chots n baaboo ) !!!!!

Familiar Voidness

I have done it time and again, yet, it feels as difficult every single time. Like going to school on day 1, minus the excitement factor..

The thought that at the other end of the sleep, its gonna be a huge emotional trauma, The uneasiness in breathing, tossing and turning a million times before the sleep engulfs and waking up to the sound of alarm which reminds me that its time to go to airport, either to drop someone or to leave someone- Horrible..Period..

Could there be something worse? Well yes, Coming back to an empty home, to the deafening silence, looking at bits n pieces left behind from packing stuff..
Forgetting to lock the door thinking amma would do it and then responding to the harsh reality. Or climbing on to a plane, sitting amidst 200 unknown people and switching off the fone and departing home at 500 miles/hour.

The whole sequence is so cliche now- I know how its going to feel, I know how its going to hurt, I know how numbing its going to be, I know how its gonna choke, I know how weak am gonna be..and yet, I know how helpless I am-cos I have no idea how to prepare myself for it..

I hate this....familiar voidness......

Sorgame Endraalum..!

Aug 14 !

2 yrs up!! Time to Validate- What have I got in these 2 years?

1) A nutcase cald Amanda as my roommate !! ( I love my nutcase though :) ) and Pranav, the most , pro-mumbai( and money), anti-( chennai, vlsi, engineering, job, studies,anything that involves effort) man who happens to be one of my best friends :D
2) A Master's degree..Yay? Oh yea Whatever! I don feel like I am worth it :P.. Specially when I come to think of my VLSI phase 2 project with Pranav wherein we "DESIGNED" our memory cell missing an entire hierarchy in between and got 50/50 in the 2nd phase!
3) A job in Intel.. Hmm this probably deserves a YAY but this place scares me everyday! All they talk about is "striving to impress"
4) Sairam- Well he s a treasure.. One valid reason for me to have felt like "Thank god I chose to study!( And thank god he chose the U of M)
5) Culinary Skills! YAY!!!! Believe me, I am managing all by myself in a desert :P Thanks to my lovely skills :P

And what have I missed?

1) My YOUTH :( Shit am growing old! And worse, I can feel it!!!!
2) Priya's Wedding- This will haunt me forever :( I cudnt make it to her wedding cos I got a job 10 days AFTER her wedding! Damnn , if only it was before :(
3) Amma's yummy yummy food- But It hasnt helped me lose any weight.. I am beginning to think I am a better cook, but its NOT true..( Mandy, modesty definitely is my middle name :D )
4) Fights with my Appa- Skype doesn give me the exact feel/flavor, so I better complain..
5)CHENNAI!!!!!!! My heaven, my shrine, my everything :(
6) Priya and Subbu- the text msgs, movies, b'day planning, spencer plaza, restaurants etc etc etc etc that I can ( or I'd rather ) do with them :(

Was it worth it? It is SO hard to answer, I am not sure if what I have been upto is good enough for whatever I ve been missing.. But, I ve come to realize that life is all about this.. I read it on someone's status "Life is what happens to you when ur planning something else" and its so true!!

Coming to think of it, my world has expanded a lil ( in terms of ppl i love and ppl who care abt me ) and considering the fact that appa, amma , priya and subbu thot it was such a huge deal when I sent them the degree certificate pic and the intel offer letter :) Well, may be it WAS really worth it :)

Doesn't imply ANYTHING! Sorgameee endraalum, adhu nammooora pola varuma :)

Waiting for that Aug 14 when I would blog from Chennai :)

2nd Anniversary

She left us too..

The wound is fresh and the pain is deep..

Miss you...and paati.....

Luv,

Preethu.

All your Fault

I was sitting in the parlour with some white substance on my face that was supposed to make me look better (really??!!). I was facing a huge hurdle in life- I couldnt talk..I can vouch for Theory of Relativity when I am asked to shut up for some time. That's when I feel like calling the A-Z contacts on my mobile and "catching up". So ya, I had to shut my mouth and worse, close my eyes. The lady was a very courteous one and switched on the FM for me..

"Oh oh ethanai azhagu irubadhu vayadhinile..". I heard some stifled laughs and they added to my agony. Luckily the parlour lady justified saying "such old songs..maathu ma FM ah" ( otherwise i may have killed her).I got to tell him abt this tonight on gtalk, am sure he'll find the coincidence funny and I could see him smile on the screen within my closed eyes.

"Azhagu nee nadandhaal nadai azhagu... oooo netriyile surundu vizhum neenda mudi azhagu.."- I was video chatting with him. He shook his head like dogs do when they are given a bath. And there came a strand of hair on his forehead. I googled these lyrics and pasted it to him.And he smiled. These FM ppl.. Cant they choose some better song?

And then a series of advertisements and I was envying those RJ's whose mouths weren't sealed with the magic white cream that was going to turn frogs into princesses. Then started the "Big 6, back to back songs" on Big FM.

"Munbe vaa en anbee vaaa...."- I love to sing. I was singing this song at home. And then, an urge to compare myself with a common friend of mine and his whose performance he's heard. I attempted thrice. The third attempt was alright, but I had kept the mic too close. And that's exactly what my best friend said when I sent it to her. But I told him I was going to send it. So, I picked up the mic, gave it one shot hoping it cums out well and he was impressed. He said "Super voice loosu unaku" and I was floating. "Damn these FM people, epo paathalum same songs"

"Sel Sel avaludan Sel...."- I was sitting on the couch and he was singing this for the 100th time that day. He's not a great expert in singing ( like me :P) but there's something very cute abt it. I was telling him "come off, come off with me, unna check in panni eduthundu poidren" and then he sang "sol sol avalidam sol" and I was like "Tell me Tell me..dont think too much"...And I felt something wet.. Wow, she was rubbing off the white thing. More than worrying about how beautiful I had transformed, the first thing I blurted was " Can u change the station please?". She took her time to wipe it off my face and as I got up to pay...

"Pogaadhe...Pogaadheee..nee irundhaal nan irupeen"- I was trying hard for 2 hours to grab his attention. Its so pissing off when he's glued to his laptop. I had finished cooking and was doing absolutely "nermal"( this is for garfield fans) kinda lame stuff to attract attention. And, as always, nothing happened. Then I thot ok fine I am leaving. My comp was on and since he was online, I pinged him and said "I cant take this shit anymore, am leaving". No response. Then after 2 minutes the song played....like a hot knife through butter..and "vennais" like me don even require that hot a knife..I was smiling..and..and.. "Madam, ok ngla?"..

I pulled out the money, looked into the mirror, and realized I was never going to change..

I have to narrate this to him tonite.. or wait, let me post it in my blog and video chat with him to c his reaction..

How I fell in luv with Chennai- ALL OVER AGAIN!!!!

Dec 25- I was up before 7 am, when my alarm was supposed to go off. A realization "Its 25th, the day is here"- Excitement in its ultimate gigantism. To top it, an A in my favorite course. Can there be a better morning in my life? I doubt..

The 14 hour flight was so annoying. Home so close, yet so far. Its so weird how after waiting for 450 days, it pains like crazy to wait 14 hours. By the time I reached Abudhabi, I was sick..of flights...the security checks and just having to sit glued to one place. I got into the flight, irritated and sleepy. The moment they announced "non stop service to Chennai", my face lit up. It hit me where I was heading. It dawned on me that I had to wait 3 more hours and then it would be heaven. I probably was the only idiot who was smiling when the plane was taxi'ng on the run way. From then on, my screen had just the live map running.

Distance to Destination: 1786 miles Estimated Arrival: 3 31 am Ground Speed: 590 mph. Hmm..so slow.. Wat to do? Its so boring..Shud I sleep? Shud I look out into the dark? I was clenching my fists and looking at the Distance to Destination without batting an eyelid..

Distance to Destination: 364 miles-I felt the first surge of adrenaline. I mean, imagine, it was true, that I was going to reach chennai. I was as close to Chennai as I would have been if I was somewhere in say, Hyderabad. No more 5 digit discouraging distances, no more 10.5 hour differences. Appa wouldn't have to say "Hi, u woke up too late, its time for me to sleep" or "Preethi, its time, I am off to office, u better go to sleep". He could kick my ass and wake me up at 6 am (of course I wouldnt wake up, but tats a different story altogether).

Distance to Destination: 122 miles- "Cabin Crew, Prepare for landing". I was choking. The aircraft was really going to land in Anna International Terminal. I was going to touch my parents and see that I wasnt touching my laptop screen. I was paralyzed. I was staring out of the window not wanting to be looked at like an alien by my co passenger. The cabin lights were turned off and oh my god.. Chennai was breathtakingly beautiful. People who know me would have easily guessed that I would have started crying by now.

After Immigration, I reached the arrival lobby. Vishnu was the first person I saw. Then anna. Then manni. Then..AMMA. I hugged her and was locked in that position, for 2 mins. The world around me froze. Then Appa! "IDIOTTT, go get ur baggage, u just left it astray.."..Sigh, Appa's, they never change..

I picked up my bags, came out to the open..And took a deep breath of Chennai's air-

REBIRTH...

My BEST friend's Birthday!!!!!!!!!

"Inbam varalaam thunbam varalaam nanban oruvan pangu peralaam, kalloori natpukillai mutru pulliye!!!!"- Indha line keta, en mind la vara ore person- ennoda PRIYA!

Apdi patta en Priya oda birthday- Nov 14th- A post dedicated to my one and only soul mate :)

What do i write? Everytime I try to write something for her, whether its an orkut testimonial or a "birthday" book, I stumble..What do i write to sumone who knows what exactly I am about to speak the next second? Or what exactly is running in my head this very second? The only one who knows how exactly to deal with me and who knows when I am going to get pissed and when I am going to get really really pissed? And who still does those things knowing how exactly to set it all right again?????? The only one with whom I can go on and on for hours and then still find something to talk.. Or cut the call in 5 mins bluntly stating "I am bored of talking right now" and still know that it wouldn be 1 bit offensive! The only one without whom I ve never attended college ( apart from the usual lesser than 75% attendance that i had)

How long have i known u dee?? Hmmm... Forever???  Well, close to it..

Feels like I cant recollect anything of what happened before u came into my world di! U have redefined LIFE for me.. Fun na enna, love na enna, care na enna, trust na enna, understanding na enna, misunderstanding na enna ( :D)..elllameeeeee..u ve taught me a lot, without ur and my knowledge :)

I have told u this 1 million times.. But I have never been able to completely express it.. I LOVE U DI, UR MY BESTEST FRIEND EVER..There's no way I can push a day without u .. Hate to get this sentimental with u.. :D


HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEARESTTTTTT PRIYA! HOPE U HAVE AN AWESOMESTTT BIRTHDAY, YET AGAIN :)