Aduvom Paduvom Kondaduvom...

Yesterday was the client's Christmas party day at Park Hyatt Hotel, so naanga ellam gear up pannitirundhom for the party..gear-up na work ellam on time mudikardhu etc etc. The party was starting by 7:00, so some of us girls had come home to change into casual wears. Naan perfect on the dot 7:00 ready ayitten (evalo punctual naan) but when I went to the other girls' place (enna enaku vazhi suthama theriyadhu to the hotel) yarume ready-a illa!! adi pavigala, party 7:00 manikache-na, enna panradhu..innum rendu per varanume office-lerndhu-nranga!! Kizhinjudhu Krishnagiri-nu nondhutte I settled myself..7:15..7:30..7:40..7:50 oru madam entry koduthanga

"Girls, it is too late, we cant go there 1.5 hrs late!!" (Aama, appadiye time-ku correct-a vandhu keechita, idhellam mattum correct-a sollidu!)

Innoru madam vandhanga, and started analyzing slippers.."Well, if we go 1.5 hrs late..." -idhu naan, immediately "Oh yeah, I got the point, am going!!" and she went in to change (appada, oru conscientious ponnu da!)

So finally we left by 8:00, and when we came out, the two latecomers realized that one hadn't brought something for the other, and off they went to the former's apartment!

Anyways, naanga station poi ticket vangitu wait pannindhom indha rendu mahatmas-kaga and they came around 5 minutes later and we boarded the train to Circular Quay.

Anga iranginappurama none of us knew the route to the hotel (naandhan absent minded-na ellaruma??) So we called up a colleague and asked for directions and finally landed there..the time was 8:30.

I was bored as soon as I landed there, infact I havent liked parties since my first experience in a party, so suthi suthi thiru thiru-nu parthundhen. Appo oruthar vandhar - "What would you girls like?" Each of us gave our choices, but we didnt expect him to bring them to us! He brought them and stood to talk..naandhane eppovume mattipen, so ingayum adhan nadandhadhu, he was talking to me while I watched helplessly as the other girls moved to some other place. He went on talking and talking ('Enya ennai paduthara, niraya per irukangala, povendiyadhudhane :(') He excused himself for another glass - 'Appada, tholainjan' - and I was standing there wondering what next to do when some of my colleagues called me. And I went and spoke to them for 2 minutes, when another client guy came near me and introduced himself..

"Hi, I am Ra_(sathiyama enaku andha per puriyala)"
"Hey, Am Usha"
"What is it again?"
"Usha"
"Can you spell it for me?"
"U-S-H-A" (dei, idhu romba simple per da, idhu kooda unaku vaila nuzhayadha?)
"Your name starts with a 'U'?") (en, U-la start panna adhellam per kidayadha?)
"Yeah"
"Your name starts with the letter U?" (oru thadavai sonna puriyadha unaku?)
"Yeah...(grrrr)"
Meanwhile another guy, the one who admired Rangoli during Diwali preps, came and told this one, "Usha was the one who made Diwali here" (Aama, Diwali oru sweet, naan adhai pannen)
R% : "When was that?"
Rangoli Guy(RG): "I think that was 2 months ago, wasnt it?"
Me : "Yeah.."
R% : "I missed it by 1 month, damn! (parvalla, Diwali-ku valichirukadhu) Will you be here for the next Diwali"
Me : "No"
R% : "You might be here..you never know"
Me : "(Nee irundha naan inike odi poiduven) he he, probably"
R% : "So you are called Usha and it starts with a U??? (Ayyyooooo, arambichuttane!!! idhu enna ulaga adhisayama enna? Ahaa, oruvelai kudichirukana ivan? Usha..appeet!)"
Me : "Why, doesnt Uruguay start with a U? (and so does Uganda!)"

Then came the dancers and started dancing, and the Rangoli guy got so happy and started commenting hot babes and chicks etc..and I tried moving out of the corner under the pretext that I want to see the dance. Eppadiyo mattikaren ovvoruthar kanlayum, that this time I decided that I will go to a safe zone - 'Aaha! adho irukanga the missing girls, po Usha po' - and I went near the girls. These dancers, once they were done, called out two pairs from the group and taught them some gross steps which they had to dance in front of others..konjam kevalama irundhadhu, but again, I didnt know if it is a cross-cultural problem that i am feeling bad.

After the dances, there was nothing much and my ennui was overwhelming me, when they played some music. Naan konjam light-a thalai ellam asaikaradha parthutu, one of the girls called me to dance in the floor..so chumma poi edho thathu pithu-nu pannindhen. Thideernu partha that R% guy had come!!! Avanum edhira adaran!! Ayyayo appadi-nu I turned to some other side and danced and then he realized he wasn't welcome and moved aside..aana sema bore dancing..oru group sema enthu-va circle katti ninnu aaditirundhanga, and our Indian guys, half drunk, were showing their talents :) Anyways, time up, I stopped, decided to leave and left.