Deepavali Diary - Part 1

Where do I start ? Epics, be it stories or movies or simple posts, need to start dramatically.... So let me say that my Deepavali was a damp squib...I would have loved to wake up late at 7, blow a few thousands worth crackers like the DSMs, wear a sparkling white veshti, pick up my date, see Veer Zaara, eats loads and loads of sweets (and not put on weight), coochy coo (as someone once said in an earlier post's comment) with Bipasha Basu on the beach at around sunset (did i forget to mention that she was my date) and then come home and watch a Rajini movie in TV... But sadly for me, nothing like this...except that last bit...happened...So my Diwali was a damp squib...Now lets get started with the post...Btw, i meant epic as in epic proportions.. this is gonna be one heckuva long post so if u don't have 10 minutes to spare, this is where you stop reading...

Thursday: Deepavali... what does it all mean to me.. the 4Ps...Padam, Pudhu Uduppu, Palagaram and Pattaasu in the same order...With every passing year these PUDHU UDUPPUs have become a pain.. I usually plan to buy one thing and end up buying something else..This year was a rare exception with my decision to go ethnic lasting till the end..So a Sandalwood colored kurta was IN and jeans was OUT..I'd usually buy PATTASUs on the night before Deepavali but if you are in an alien city with no friends around, crackers do not hold any excitment...Besides if yours is the only Tamilian family in the vicinity, waking up the neighbourhood at 4 am with the sound of phatakas guarantees a one way ticket to the local police station..So ended up buying just 'one kattu for saastram'....Mom had prepared a lot of sweets besides buying some specialities from Malleshwaram so PALAGARAM was taken care of..The biggest let down was in the PADAM department...Thanks to these madcap Kannada radicals, my choice was limited to GIRI and MUGHAL-E-AZAM and both of them were promptly vetoed by my only pal in town.

So come Deepavali day, I woke up early at 4:40, had the mandatory Ganga Snanum, gorged down sweets, watched Nithyashree and Unnikrishnan on telly, heard Sri Jayendra Saraswathi's mesage to people (blissfully unaware of the dramatic events that would unfold later in the evening) and transformed myself into a goody-goody family boy...Gramps and Granms (who had thankfully decided to spend Deepavali with us) n Mom and Dad had already planned to go to Vidyaranyapura to visit my chinna thatha and chinna paatti and left with not much of a choice, i joined them...Surprise of all surprises, it turned out to be a delightful get togther where all the oldies chatted up and reminisced about the past.. Thoroughly enjoyed every minute spent there, the "namaskaram and vasool" routine and even the openly unabashed attempts of the ladies to get me snapped alone so that they could "use it".

Since more than a few people had complimented me on my dress since morning, I thought it would be a neat surprise to drop in at RA's place and show off ;-) So Indira Nagar was the next stop.. Unfortunately I seemed to have gatecrashed into a family get together of their own so after having more sweets and some quick farewells, I beat a hasty retreat.. Okie Okie...I confess..I had to leave coz I couldn't stop ogling there.. Everyone was sooooooooo prettily dressed including Ritu that I almost had an inferiority complex :-)) Came back home and switched on telly...There was a Rajini movie in SUN but by sheer bad fortune, it was BABA. I'd resisted checking out this flick for long but 30 mts into the movie, i realised why even the most die hard of all Rajini fans could not tolerate this one.. Neway loved that chant...

B - to - the - A - to - the - B - to - the - A!

B-A-B-A!!!

ps: Saw bits n pieces of Alaipaayuthey later that night....

That scene when Maddy runs across the platform towards the ladies compartment in Shalini's train and says "...Shakthi, enakku onna pidichirukku'nnu sollala... Nee azhaga irukke'nnu naan ninaikala.. aana idhellam nadandhidumo'nu bayama irukku..."

Sagiyeyyyyyyyyyyyyyy........

THALAIVA.........Long Live Mani Ratnam !!!!

Friday: Deepavali 2 - The day the-rest-of-the-world celebrated Deepavali...Woke up at 6 jes to check if nebody at all was bursting crackers at least today.. None...Whats rong with these Kannadigas ? Decided to call up all my North Indian friends to wish 'em Happy Deepavali.. Halfway into my third call got bored.. Gave up... Phones are not for me...Made big plans to watch King Arthur...And then the skies opened up..My partner-in-crime also had some unexpected visitors so our date was postponed for later in the day...(Does that sound like "I GOT STOOD UP") So ended up pulling my laptop along and going to K2 to surf...Chatted with BK, Mithun (he's always online.. Does the sun never set in Ohio?) and Priya...And then got my summons at around 2...It was still drizzling and by now movies had slipped down our priority list... So we ended up lazing around near Majestic, buying CDs from National Market and generally having fun in the rain..Had 12 golgappas from a roadside vendor in Gandhinagar...got so senti thinking of Lokhandwala that I was soon rambling on and on about the great SP days :-)) Rushed back home to see Amelie on Zee Movie Zone....Don't remember much of the rest of the evening... except that.... yeah, RA looked very pretty in her red saree (Now be a sweetheart and return the compliment pls)