public service announcement

to all folks who live, work or who are fated to be in the vicinity of San Jose, Cupertino area for the next couple of days. The warning is for the below outlined specific denizens:

The non-desis.

Specially the non-desis that are non-telugus.

Specially more so for the non-telugus who don’t care for dancing. Indian dance.

Or any subsets of the above, either by union or intersection. Outliers need to be even more careful.

What’s happening there?

Kuchipudi is happening.

Yeah, as in the Kuchipudi, the dance of Andhra. Tons of kuchipudi dancers are descending on the area.

The organizers searched high and low for a venue. They looked all over from touristy Niagara to misty Seattle, to the picturesque New England to the sunny Florida, they even debated on the Texan ranches to the dry Detroit. It was either too hot, too non-andhra-ish, scarce desi restaurants, and then they did a per sq foot count. Figured why not take the state’s dance to its adopted state outside of India.

California of course!

So, what should you be on the lookout for?

• While you are peacefully cruising along the sunny roads, not only would you see another telugu next to you at the signal as it is wont, but chances of seeing a completely bedecked dancer doing a “thaka diku thomthaka dina” across the crossing is very high.
• You may suddenly also feel the ground shaking below you. Fret not. It is not a tremor. It is the forces of 200 or so dancers stamping their feet to the beats of Jatheeswaram together. A guiness record in the making I hear.
• Consistent jingling for the 3 days. Tinnitus it is not. The bells around the dancers feet would jingle to various beats as various workshops are filled to the brim.
• Sudden increase in female population, dressed to the teeth in silks, stage makeup and paper flowers each having their own accents, texan drawl, the Yankee, the southern accent and more.
• An occasional middle-aged and elderly man in the midst of all these cackling women.
• Yells of “akka” , “mastergaru” , “aunty” filling the air.
• More specifically one may hear in passing dialogs like: “emito, pataakaniki tripatakaniki theda teleedu, veellandaru yakhanga thillanalu chesestunnaru. En chestam mastergaru?” or “aramandi edey, neeku savalaksha saarlu cheppanu, nuvvekkada vintavu, na paruvu teestunnavu kadey” or “emiti, ee pantu ee shirtu vesukuni bayataki velalla? na bonda, suitu bootu, cha, en chandalam idi! Chi chi, America America antoo chankalu guddu kuntoo egabadi ekkesanu flightu, chastunnananuko.” or “inka nayam, aa Udipi vadi punyama antu, rendu idli mukkalu mana mohana padesadu, lekapote, endi poyina bread mukkalu kukkaki padesinattu, mana mohana padesaru ee hotel vaallu” or “Taalam tapputondamma, manasu drishti jathi lo pettu. Aa dikkulanni ee item ayyina taruvata choosuko, aapute, nee meeda vottu” etc etc. (Sorry non-telugus, translating those would just kill it all.)

Jokes apart, there’s a huge Kuchipudi convention happening at the Flint Center off the Stevens Creek Blvd in Cupertino, organized by the Silicon Andhra and it would be an experience of a lifetime. Big names in teh field, reputed dancers, established teachers, performers, my own Mastergaru, the troupe, and various kuchipudi students, teachers and institutions across United States are congregating there since Friday for the weekend. For a dancer, this would be an amazing experience, to see them all together on stage. Thinking about it gives me goosebumps. (Not linking, as I don’t want to get backtracked, but google away if interested)

I physically will be here at home, but my mind would be wandering around the area. Somehow, Cupertino and I are jinxed.

 

munchies

Over the last week Ive discovered that the munchkin can yield a pencil like a natural. She draws perfect round golgoppa type circles, and keys in laddoo shaped eyes with perfect sticks for eyelashes. For the most part the pictures either are me or her sister, and she even shapes in the daughter’s rectangular glasses.

Today while I was hammering away a comment somewhere, munchkin droned on like a bee:
“I want to draw mommy, gimme paper and pen.”
“Ok, here’s a paper” *handing her a one-sided sheet, did I tell you I hate wasting papers?*
“Not this one, I want a new one.”
“fine, here’s a book, and here’s a pencil”
“MOM!”
“what?”
“I said, I want pen, not pencil”

Long story short, she finally started work on the sheet with a pencil that looked like a pen; and unlike how you, me and mere mortals draw, with the sheet laying flat on the floor with us bending all over it and smudging every little mark, she stands facing the wall, and with a serious concentrated pursed lip and scribbles away. The sheet’s laying flat against the wall, and the pencil’s moving with ferocious speeds. I think to myself, if not anything she’d make a good elementary school teacher!

I get back to emails. I am hardly done with one, when she flashes the paper brilliantly under my nose. This is what she drew.

I thought the expression was priceless, and continuing to flatter myself said:
“Nice picture munchkin, so my eyes look that big?”
“Mommy, those are my eyes.” *in a solemn patient tone*
“oh, okay. You are smiling?”
She nods.
“What are those sticks on either side of your face?”
“They are my hands.”

*okayyy, this is what happens when too many people pinch little girls cheeks. The girls imagine hands sprouting out of them*

“so whats all these long lines on either side of you?”
“That’s my longggggg Ju” *ju is short for juttu, which means “hair” in telugu*

..and that’s when I felt a little pang for snipping her hair off. *sigh. Curse the damn job, the drive and me leaving before she wakes up*

“but you don’t have long Ju right?”
“but I want me to have long ju, just like Ariel and Cinderella. Don’t cut my hair ever ever ever again ok, or I won’t be your friend?”
“Okay, I promise I won’t” Laughing, I kiss her on her upper lip.
“Mommy, are you being a boy?!”

?! *argh*

 

discordant

I drive 23 miles one way to work. After the fair amount of hints blatant and otherwise this fact isn’t hush anymore. So, to keep my mind from working overdrive, I listen to music, just like any of us who go on long drives. The various options I have are:

Desi Bollywood Music

Not-so desi music

MSS and the likes

FM radio

News

I tried books on tape but soon realized I preferred to read them. One can hardly focus on the story never mind the words. Then there was this incident when I drove off the road in boredom, but that’s another blog post for later.

Coming back to music, I am in a fortunate place where, without me asking I tend to find songs in my inbox. Of course I send requests out too occasionally and folks are real nice to me. Gone are the days when I go searching for music. The zeal to go search, download, fight pop-ups and create logins has died a silent slow death over the months. I originally had an Ipod. The husband in a rare bout of indulgent cozy love, got me one. For quite some time I didnt believe that I was the recipient and I eyed it a few days cautiousness mingled with suspicion as one eyes a mirage, or even a lottery ticket. The excitement on owning one yet not wanting to burst into happiness in case you jinx it.

I have a feeling I eyed it too long. Coz, one day it really did disappear.

On seeing my puzzled face, the daughter said “hey, you didn’t load a single song in it! Couldn’t let that go to waste now can I?” So, the iTunes got downloaded and songs kept flying in. In a 70’s black n white movie style flashback I remembered my mom’s expression of distaste when she heard any BoneyM or ABBA music. “Ghosts” she’d scream “It’s devil’s music. How can that even be qualified as music? Listen to Balamurali, Ghantasala, how about SPB. All that convent education, and we get such side-effects! I told your father to send you to nice Hindu Sarada Vidyalaya, but would he listen, noooo, he wanted to make Britishers out of you both sending you to the convent school, and now I have to hear such torture.”

Ultimately, I am told, we all turn into our moms.

I don’t get what they listen to despite my keen monitoring on what they download and makes its way into their heads and they in turn scoff at what we hear. The relief is that it is equal opportunity. I roll my eyes at their music and they shrink their noses at mine.

So, with the now elusive iPod confiscated by the tween, I was relegated to listening to music the good old way. On those bright shiny discs that Best Buy still sells. So I’d burn the CD’s with various music pieces, and tuck them away into the car’s originally 5-slot-but-yet-only-3-of-them-play music system, and spend my time on the road. Since I don’t qualify for the most organized person on earth, occasionally I tend to get repeats and random collection. Hindi, Telugu, Tamil get mixed, and these days with ARR’s foray into the languages, it’s perfectly alright for me to hear Guru’s one song in Hindi and then Telugu (though in this movie, hindi rocks personally) and Gajini’s song is heard in telugu and tamil. Kuchipudi dance items and English however I have maintained separately, and it seemed the natural thing to do. So yes, its a fine smorgasbord if you will. In fact, I like it that way, being pleasantly surprised when the system’s on random works wonders keeping you awake in the wee hours.

I recently discovered that pleasantly surprised and rudely shocked are on either side of a very thin line. Mainly drawn by the one who plays a pivotal role in deciding the order of songs.

Ever so often my CD’s shrink in number. One day the CD pack is brimming with 20 shiny discs and the next week, it’s down to a paltry 2. Apparently, they make good play things for the munchkin, son uses them as instant frizbee while he waits for the school bus, the daughter uses them as tracing mechanisms and the husband just throws them out once he sees a miniscule scratch on them, or if they get in his way, anywhere.

As a result, burning music onto brand new CD’s is like a constant almost-therapeutic action every few days. One rushed morning, on realizing I would have to listen to the silence or the voices in my head - either of which didn’t sound tremendously beneficial to my already fragile state of mind, I figured in the time it took for me to shower and get dressed, 2 discs could be burnt. Since moms love to totally send the underlings scurrying as assistants for any kind of job however small it may be, I asked the daughter if she could slip the discs in while she chewed on her cereal. She nodded. I showed her the 2 separate playlists and ran.

We drive off with at least 1 fresh new set of songs. She says “Yes, ma’am, the Jodha thingy and the cuckoo ones too!”. Feeling happy I’d have some ARR for company, I slide it in and as “Azeem O-Shaan” picks up, grin broadly as I hear a soft voice sing along with the tape. I pull into the kiss n ride line at her school and the track changes.

HUH? What the hey!?!

Did the CD change? No, we still on the same one. Track no. 2 is THIS?

Daughter “What? You asked me to burn them right?”

Me: “Yes, I did, but.. . Okay, what’s track 3? “

Daughter: “See, nice nice music again, just for you. Actually it’s for me, but never mind that.”

Me: “This is insane girl!”

Daughter: “haha. Mom, I am the only one who drives with you. It isn’t fair asking me to listen to your cuckoo songs continuously. So, yea. Ok, bye”

She hops off, leaving me to stare at the back of her swishing pony tail and wonder at the incredulous ways a tween’s brain can and will work.

So you ask on the songs and the order? It goes like this.

Track 1: Azeem O Shaan

Track 2: If I were a flower growing wild and free - Juno

Track 3: In Lamhon ki daaman

Track 4: Layla - Eric Clapton

Track 5: Jashn-e-bahara

Track 6: Anyone else but you - Juno

..and so on.

Imagine relishing and savoring the last nuances of tangy Bhel, and a delicious idli lump soaked in a combination of sambar and coconut chutney is thrust down your throat, while you are still licking your lips on that leftover sev tucked between the spaces between your teeth?

 

an equation

PLUS

EQUALS

PLUS

 

varsha pirappu ‘08

Wishing my kazillion (I know that’s a stretch, but I sorta liked the term and hence using it freely!) tamil readers a wonderful new beginning.

pic: By ferrari.

Gorgeous orange sunrise and colors of the waters at Marina Beach, loved the frame and felt it suited the occasion in more ways than one.

Ellorukkum Iniya Tamil Puthandu Vazthukkal

Enna Panneenga? Veetley enna samayal? Enna padam release inda new yearukku? Thalaivar paattu onnu paakkalama?

(Translating: Wishing all a wonderful new Tamil new year. What did you do? What’s the menu at home? What are the new movie release for this day? Should we watch the Hero’s song? )

Such a catchy fun number and good sentiments to boot, too! so enjoy :–)

***

Not to forget our Kerala neighbors - Happy Vishu.

Sadya kazhicho?

(Translates to - did you gorge well on the huge lunch served this day?) :–)

***

 

ugadi 2008

Last year this time, I probably just had 2 telugu readers and am all excited that suddenly there are so many of you! So here you go:

mee andariki sarvadhari naama samvatsara shubhakaankshalu

Woke up a little cranky as we all had just 4 hours of sleep [late night talk sessions with old friends], used a yellow and pink driveway chalk to put a muggu [rangoli, kolam] in the front, and hoping the drizzle won’t wash it away, Made the pachadi with tamarind juice, jaggery, mango pieces, green chillies, and dried frozen neem flowers [saved them from our last India trip] in the morning, got dressed in new clothes [interestingly, we all managed to salvage something out of our closets], went to our sunday morning thing, came back, had a good lunch with pulihora and boorelu. Finished it off with a good 2 hour nap! Perfect!

I know that there’s a conflict of Padyami starting in the night today and so technically, we celebrate the day according to the time we wake up, and hence Ugadi [ read more about it here] should be tomorrow, but hey, it’s Sunday, it’s relaxed, so like all postponements and clubbing schedules into our 52 sundays, we pushed this one too.

Hope all of you are also celebrating or celebrated it with family and friends and a lot of food!

Not to forget the neighbors -

My two kannada readers - Happy Ugadi to you!

Any Maharastrians and Konkans? - Happy Gudipadva to you all as well!

So tell me, what did all of you do?