Clickety Clack, Clickety click

Toy Train, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

The other night I was woken up by a horn and I cursed the driver when the sound was followed by the rumble of an engine and I was so elated. The fact that I could hear a train felt so cool.

There's something about a train that is really exciting. It's generally one of the first few toys that you give a kid. I remember being super excited to see this wonderful toy train at the Kochi Toy museum. It chugged and whistled and even changed tracks at the touch of a lever.

As a Mumbaikar, our lives have been governed by the train. well it's not 1/2 as romantic but there are so many wonderful stories about the train rides. A couple who are very close family friends met each other on the train. I still remember the guys trying to impress the ladies on the other side of the 1/2 gents 1/2 ladies 1st class compartment. Ok the trains were a lot less full then but just recently read the status message of a friend about a lady who he saw on the trin but couldn't find on FB or Orkut. We Mumbaikurs found our social networking tool years back. It's that train which shaped many a life, each different yet bound together.

Anyway the train in this picture is a wooden toy train, a legacy of a generation gone when kids actually played with wooden toys. The train has little windows cut into single blocks of wood with little wheels which move quite smoothly. It's got centre place on my showcase with priority over the wooden classic motorcycle.

Memories fly by like electric poles and trees,
of the wonderful moments in each train trip.
The gentle rocking, the movement from side to side.
The sound of the tracks the repetitive clickety click.

The blast of the horn at each level crossing,
asking everyone to not come in the way,
of the many dreams that are rumbling through,
of the memories created each passing day.

Every moment different in it's own special way.
Each passage like a nice little story.
Telling us, it's not the destination that matters,
In life what matters most is the journey

Luv,

P.R.

Operation 4G

It's not some super duper project I'm working on and I'm really not 1 to blow my own trumpet. Well Ok maybe sometimes. Anyways I'm working on the most critical project in my personal life since I left home. Code name Operation 4G.

Let's cut to the chase. Come 10th October and my house is going to be invaded by ....wait for it... Can't help it since I'm such a HIMYM fan.. OK my house is going to be invaded by the 4 generations i.e. My granny, My mum, My sis and my nephew. 4 generations hence 4 G and each one with his/her own agenda.

My granny comes with the one point agenda to get me married to a nice mallu Syrian christian girl. Actually might not be such a bad idea. The min going rate for a syrian christian boy would be in the 5 million range. Me with my healthy disposition and an engg deg to boot (no self respecting mallu cares about an IIM) could probably pocket around 5 million. Hee Hee. Think abou the digital home theatre system I could setup with that kind of moolah.

My mother would probly agree with my granny's agenda except that she really wouldn't care for the Syrian Christian part. And she'd probably kill me if I accepted dowry being the equal rights person n all. She also wants to see what exactly am I up to. Am I eating healthy n all.

My sister is here to see the fun and add fire at the right moments and to ensure I get no chance to get away.

N my nephew is here because the little guy knows that his uncle is his only hope when it comes to toys, games, actually fun on the whole. He's also my secret weapon to keep my granny distracted.

So my solution is operation 4G.

Operation 4G works on multiple levels.

The first level is distraction. The idea is to never give any of the 4G elements a chance to really get enough time to corner me. So the first thing I did was to buy a Tata Sky Plus Digi com. the idea is to record every mallu movie within the next week so that there is enough content to keep my granny busy. For good measure I am even going to rent/buy a couple of good mallu movie discs :D.

The second level is extreme fatigue. Keep them touring Bangalore. Lined up a visit to Lal baug. Lunch at Cornocupia. Dinner at ITC Gardenia. 2 days in Mysore and maybe 2 more in Chikmaglur/mangalore.

The third level is cuteness. Buy enough toys for my nephew so that he is at his cutest best keeping everyone distracted.

Anyway my 4G plan also involves making my house a little liveable in the family way. So tomm mornin/noon courtesy PJ I am goin to visit Metro to get nice plates, glasses, sheets, food etc etc. Meanwhile my big TV plan has been altered a bit. I'm goin to buy a plasma TV simply because the colors are so much better and I'm going to get it post my very destructive nephew going back to Mumbai. I've moved all the curios in the front room furniture to higher higher shelves and the nice little bookshelf in the front room is going to be sealed with tape.

So there it is an overview of the plan I have in place to meet the 3 most wonderful women in my life and the little adorable brat.

Operation 4G is on and we take no prisoners.

Luv,

PR

If I could re - live each day

I wouldn't want my life
to turn out any other way.
Not a minute would be different,
If I had a chance to re-live each day.

The successes would make me as happy,
The failiures would make me equally sad.
The sunlight would make me feel bright,
The soccer on rainy days would make me glad.

My handwritong would be as bad as now,
My shoelaces would still come undone.
My exam results would be equally erratic.
My life interspersed with work and fun.

I would still do what I love doing,
I would still hate that which makes no sense.
I would continue to dream dreams beyond my abilities,
I would meet the same people, make the same friends.

Life has been this most amazing symphony,
The tune just right, not a note out of key.
I have learned from each experience thrown at me.
To treasure what my life has turned out to be.

My best picture

Slate painting at Chinar Cafe, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

I do believe this is the best picture I've clicked. This little girl was painting on a piece of slate. There are a lot of different colors though the overwhelming hue is blue. The girl is most oblivious of the picture taken without a flash.

The rice cooker

Did I tell you about the wonderful pancakes that I made for breakfast. They were not exactly round, but they were immensely tasty with the right amount of maple syrup. In fact they were so good that I now have a problem of waking up early enough to make them. I know I won't do that everyday.

Today was quite a hectic day. Thanks to my touring life I've really not got around to getting a hired help. So this Sunday was clean up day. I swept and mopped the floor then washed up the vessels before I conjured up that wonderful breakfast. Actually this seems to be the only exercise I am getting lately which reminds me cycling for sure tomorrow morning.

Anyway I topped it with lunch at Oye Amritsar with the very Amritsari Vikram Chandan. The Rotis were a lot like authentic Punjabi cuisine, the Pindi Channa was OK but the Lassi was nothing Punjabi. It's got a nice interesting ambience and definitely visitable. We actually reached there at 3, so it took some convincing to get our lunch. Vikram wearing an I amritsar T - shirt helped :D.

We then headed out to Croma to get my rice cooker but instead walked into Amoeba for bowling which we could not do courtesy a huge crowd and were instead intercepted by some researchers for a mobile phone research. They gave us a deodorant as the gift. Was conducted quite professionally I must say.

Anyway a visit to any electronic store for me is a very expensive affair. So I ended up buying a UMD of Mortal Kombat, a Silicon case and TV adapter cables for my PSP and checked out the LCD/Plasma TV section with a heavy heart. All this before I even saw the rice cooker.

The background to this cooker ting is that it was exactly in May 2001, when my grandpa (mom's dad) died that my dad and I had bought a rice cooker in Mumbai. Mom and sis being in Kerala and me having my engg exams meant the two of us were left to fend for ourselves, which we did admirably. Saw the exact model in the rack at Croma. It suddenly brought some memories back. I bought a better one this time, one with a steamer and all. I'm after all a SINK (Single income no kids) family :).

Came home and called Mumbai when dad picked up the phone. I had asked mum for advice on the rice cooker and she'd apparently told dad because he asked me whether I remembered the time we both had gone to buy the rice cooker and how we cooked (and sometimes ordered) dinner each night. I said yes and there was a silence before we resumed the conversation with our favourite topic Ansh my nephew.

It's funny how sometimes something so insignificant can bring back some very powerful memories. Memories are linked by so many such insignificant objects which played a part in some very signiicant parts of our life.

Here's to cooked rice and steamed veggies.

Luv,

Pranay