Naan auto karan auto karan...

Whenever you tell someone that you are from Chennai, udane oru flurry of comments varum. Adhula mudhalla varardhu, about the humidity and the people talk about it with such contempt that you'd think that Chennai is a naughty kid whose only objective is to trouble people. Seri humidity apart, what is the next thing? Yep, neenga guess pannadhu correct (ofcourse, title-a parthu guess pannirundha kooda ok), namma auto karanga pathidhan. Adhavadhu yaravadhu vera city-lerndhu vandhuttangana, the only objective of Chennai autowalas is to cheat them by extorting exorbitant fares.

Che che, ippo naan namma oor auto karangalai pathi defend ellam panna poradhilla, nammalaye ematharavanga, mathavangalai panna mattangala? Adhellam avanga rights, and we absolutely should not question it. This is about the honest autowalas that you find in other states.

It was when I set my foot in Bangalore to join a company, rather when I was going to set my foot in that company. Bangalore totally pudhusu, and enkitta vazhi solli anuppinavanga bus number ellam koduthu, stop-la irangikko, it is easy from there-nu solli anuppitanga.

Now this office was inside the airport complex of Bangalore, and all I knew was that I should go to the airport. Bus-lerndhu irangi, suthi suthi parthen edhavadhu airport madhiri theriyudha-nu, and I could not guess anything (naamadhan Meenambakkam airport-a oru highway-la parthu pazhagittomla)...and so I did the first thing that struck me. I was already tensing up since it was time that reported at the place, and I didnt want to create a wrong first impression.

Oru auto poitrundhadhu, and I called it. The auto guy pulled up, and I told him "airport". Avanum "seri erikkonga" appadinu ennai ethikittan. I got ready for a long drive, and I told the auto driver to drive a little fast - Bangalore-ku ponavangaluku theriyum how crowded airport road is.

The auto started, went about a 10 metres, took a U turn, and came back 10 metres on the other side of the road, and turned left, and the guy asks me "do you want me to drop you inside the airport or outside it?"! Appodhan purinjikitten that we were already in te airport complex, and that it had been right opposite the bus stop!!!

I made the guy stop the auto, and thalaivar 10 bucks charge pannar ennai. I started arguing with him, "enga aniyayama iruku, edhir-laye airport iruku-nu sollirukalamla, I would have just crossed the road instead of taking the auto?!" appadinu ketten. Adhuku andha aal cool-a solrar, "neenga airport poganumnu soneenga, naan kootitu vandhu vitten, adhudhane en velai?" Ada paavigala, ennamo "kadamaiyai sei palanai edhirparadhe"-nu Krishna paramatma sonnadhai appadiye follow panra madhiri scene vidara?? - appadinu ninaichutte I gave him that 10 bucks and went to the company.

So, idhanala namakku enna theriya varudhuna, Chennai autokaranga thevai illama suthi suthi oorai kattitu niraya panam keppanga; aana matha state auto karanga, passengers kekkaradha correct-a niraivethanum-nra ore nokkathula kadamai kanniyam kattupadu-nu work panvanga. So, non-Tamilians, I bow to thee and admit that Chennai autowalas are dishonest, and your guys are the synonyms of integrity and ethical spirit!

Naalam naalam thirunaalam....

Afterall oru birthday, adhai ozhunga spend panna mudiyudha ennala? Edho varushathuku oru thadavai varudhe, sandoshama oru naal kodumai illama anubavippom-nu ninaicha....I think my stars are aligned so strongly that there is no possibility of changing my fate.

I was looking forward to this birthday so eagerly, and infact so happy that it was on a Sunday (aamama, nethikedhan)...so sema eager-a pona varusham madhiri midnight-la suspense cake varum, vettalam-nu Rajini-oda latest film edhirparkara kadainilai rasigan madhiri wait pannindhen. First disappointment happened when we decided that we'd leave from our relatives' house (where we had been staying on Friday and Saturday) in the evening, and ended up leaving by 9:15 PM. So obviously there would have been no way for any secret cakes to be purchased, so cake aasai 6th night-e gali. Seri ok, midnight varaikum atleast muzhichittavadhu irupomnu ninaichen, but both of us were so tired that we slept immediately. But then the sincere person called my guy woke me up by 12 AM and wished me for the b'day, and zzzzz....there we dozed off again (infact this was the only good thing that happened on my b'day).

Next day morning - namma thamizhar panpaatu padi, nalla ennai theichu kulichutu puthadai uduthippom-nu ninaichen. Nalla thalaila ennai vachittu I tried calling up my Mom, but no one picked up the call. Partha sms varudhu, call by 3:30 PM-nu - en offshore makkal ellam en b'day kondada Malaikottai padam porangalam! Inga oruthi Tamil padam parka mudiyama DVD vangi parkara, idhula en b'day kondada ivanga movie poranga...ellam...Idhudhan kodumaina, I opened orkut to see a number of people wishing me on my b'day, and a message from Shuba saying she tried to call me and I didnt pick the call. Ennada solra-nu phone-ai eduthu partha, madam had called me by 5:15 AM! Theriyamadhan kekkaren, Sunday, adhuvum b'day aniku yaravadhu 5AM-ku muzhichitrupangala???? Ketta, she wanted to be the first person to wish me-nu reason vera!

Seri ok, coffee podalam-nu poi kitchen tap thirandha..water was literally dripping from the tap. Ennada idhu kaalaila nalladhane vandhadhu, seri ok, edhavadhu intermittent problem-a irukum-nu freeya vittuten. I made coffee, called up offshore folks, and by now it was 11:30 AM. Now we slowly began realizing that the water was still dripping, and called up the water supplier. The bored lady on the other side said that there is a problem with the water supply in the area and that they have started the repair work. Seri ma kanna, ethanai neram aagum-nu kettom, expecting 1-2 hrs...and then she dropped the bomb, "It will be 6 hours from now"! I could see my b'day breaking into a trillion little pieces and floating towards the trash can :(

"Seri parvalla vaa, we will go to your favorite restaurant" appadinu my guy tried enthusing me, but kulikkamaya??-nu hesitate pannite I started getting ready with all that oil on my head (luckily it was only coconut oil, and not gingelly oil, but still a heavy dose). I tried wearing the sleek dress that I had so lovingly purchased to wear to find that it was too small for me, that I ended up spraining my back trying to wear it. Ok, oru pazhaya dress mattitu we left. By the time we reached the place and took a bus, there was a heavy traffic, andha bus azhaga adipradakshanam pannitrundhadhu. Pasi kodumai vera, seri adutha stop-la irangidalam-nu we got off two stops ahead of the destination and started walking to the restaurant. Until now, we had wasted around 2 hrs since we started from home. Anyways, nalla saptutu we thought we'll go for a movie (pls kekkadheenga, eppadi b'day aniku kulikkama ivalo suthinen-nu)

Ok, 6:30 movie, time ippo 5:20, lets try making it-nu we opted for faster services but by the time we reached the destination station it was 6:24 and too late to go for the movie. Finally veetuke pogalamnu decide pantu, we proceeded home for a dull evening. In effect, I spent a b'day without shower, new dress, water or a cake or even a movie:( Ippadi oru day-va spend pantome-nu kavalaila irundha, Siva mail anupparar, ungaluku wishes potruken-nu...enna kodumai sir idhu?