Walk down the memory lane

Time again to lighten the mood after some heated discussions.

As evident, this thread is all about recalling with nostalgia about the past events of our life thus far.

Preferably funny, light-hearted, comically embarassing moments.

No Sowcar Janaki / Pandari bai / Kannamba stuff please. (LQ - they are actresses of yesteryear who kept glycerine at bay in crying)

stars of yesteryears!

Dear Hari:
I am surprised that you remember those veteran film actresses of yesteryears!! You are absolutely right! Even I was a boy in high school when these actresses were popular (!). I remember my older sister, my mom and my aunts coming home with red eyes (all that crying). I don't know why they continued to make 'azhugai' movies all the time! It seems the trend still continues! When I was in Chennai every time I turned on to a channel (Sun, Raj....) some woman was always crying!!!

hariharan1972 said:

Time again to lighten the mood after some heated discussions.

As evident, this thread is all about recalling with nostalgia about the past events of our life thus far.

Preferably funny, light-hearted, comically embarassing moments.

No Sowcar Janaki / Pandari bai / Kannamba stuff please. (LQ - they are actresses of yesteryear who kept glycerine at bay in crying)

Click to expand...

Dear Sri Hari,

I am echoing Sri Silverfox Ji's sentiments here. Who is Pandari Bai? Is she the one who acted as the wife of Shivaji in the movie about Raja Raja Cholan? My memory has dimmed.

Dear Silverfox Ji, my aunts and mother had the same 'red' eyes after these movies. Looking back, my only plausible conclusion is that these movies did function as emotional 'let off' valves for these unfortunate ladies. Based on the success of these types of movies, I dare to say now that our society in general (irrespective of the castes) did not give our mothers and sisters any emotional breaks in their lives. What a pity!

Pranams,
KRS

Pandari bai is the actor who acted with sivaji in the movie "Parasakthi"..

Pandari 'girl'

KRS ji & SF,

Pandari bai played our thalaivar Rajni's mother in Mannan where she kept her left hand in a sling like posture throughout the movie. (She sowed the seeds of my "kadi talent" pretty early in my life. I used to argue with my mother that she should be Pandari "Girl" and not "boy")

If i am right she played NTS's wife in a movie whose title i cant recall, but the plot was where she kills her husband NTS after knowing that he is conspiring with Japanese in World war II. Directed by Veena balachandar and the first tam movie without songs. Andha naal is my vague remembarance.

Now i really dont want this thread to digress into a discussion on movies. Anyways we have the "MKTS" thread started by Suresh sir.

As "senior members" of the forum and also in age terms, we expect some nostalgic recalls from you.

I can write so much that i can totally dominate this thread but i am restraining myself to allow others to get cracking.

Great expectations ? Commedy of errors ??

OK, here it goes:

I come from a conservative small city where boys and girls were not encouraged to mix together or be seen together. So much so, that in our Engineering College, when a girl wished birthday to a boy class mate of her and shook hands with him, that guy went around tom tomming all over the world that a girl shook hands with him !

Later, when I joined IITB to do M.Tech, I was exposed to an entirely new world where boys and girls roamed together and freely infiltrated into each others hostels.

Once I was sitting in the library. A pretty looking girl came to me asked for my I Card. Now, in IITB Liby, one can borrow reference books by depositing the I-Card. I parted with the I-Card without second thought and spent next half an hour gaping at her. Later, when I had to leave for the next class, with reluctance, I asked her if I could have my I-Card back. She gave a sweet smile and said she will come to my hostel to give back the card in the evening, sometime around 6 pm !

My joy and ecstacy new no bounds ! Was it perversion ? Infatuation ?? With due respect to Rt. Hon. Sir NARAS, I could not avoid it. Probably, it was something like love at first sight, only it was one sided at that point of time !

The afternoon was spent in a trance, with all kinds of thoughts coming to my mind . Also, took pains to clean the room spic and clean. When my mates from the same hostel made unsolicited visit to my room, I had great difficulty in pushing them out !

Time passed slowly…4 pm, 5 pm, 6 pm, 7 pm and no one came. 8 pm ? Still no sign of the dame.

Then there was a knock at my door. I covered the distance from the chair to the door in a few micro seconds to open the door and look what I got ! The UGLY guy who had a room at the end of the wing with my wretched card.

Hey boss, here is your card. She asked me to give it back to you !

hariharan1972 said:

Time again to lighten the mood after some heated discussions.

As evident, this thread is all about recalling with nostalgia about the past events of our life thus far.

Preferably funny, light-hearted, comically embarassing moments.

No Sowcar Janaki / Pandari bai / Kannamba stuff please. (LQ - they are actresses of yesteryear who kept glycerine at bay in crying)

Click to expand...

Day of Reckoning

LQ,

Wonderful start....er...you know what i mean.

I can recommend you the following situational songs :

1. "Ninaikka therindha maname unakku marakka theriyadha" (Hello heart, you know how to yearn for a person, cant you forget too)

2. Or closer home, "Pardesiyon se na akhiyaaan milanaaa" (Dont let your gaze meet with strangers)

Me to Myself : Kashtam da saami, orutharukku tamilukku vilakkam, enorutharukkku hindikku vilakkam

Now,

There are a few things that i would like to complain about, to my maker whenever we get up and close but one thing i CANT complain about is "insufficiency of humour" in my life.

Morsely experiment famously disproved existence of any "ether" but the Lord in his infinite wisdom has, touchwood, filled my life with the ether of humour.

Kadavul paadhi, mirugam paadhi kalandhu seidha kalavai naan (Mix of half god, half animal) said the K.haasa (as suresh sir would put it). In my case it has been the situations 50% of the time and my circle of friends, total strangers, one-time acquaintances etc..etc…. have contributed the rest of the time and have made the journey so fun-filled thus far.

Circa 1994.

Falling into the trap of Group think, me and my friends started pursuing a Professional finance course. The professional course is really a different cup of tea and we realized it very early, er…about a week left for the Course Completion exam.

CC exam was the preliminary hurdle which we had to cross to qualify for writing the main exam.

So here we were, me and my friend, sitting nervously in the exam hall and discussing whether we will make the cut. Sandwiched between us, was a gentleman whose name I vividly remember as “Feroz Khan”, apparently senior since he was writing CC for the Finals.

Minutes to go for the exam to start, I chat nervously with my friend and say “Somehow I hope we get 40. Then atleast we will get a chance to write the main exam and hopefully we will prepare better”.

Hearing this, FK in center, takes a full hard look at both of us and says with a smirk on his face “What 40 ? Get 20, that is enough for you to qualify for the mains !”

The words worked like magic on both of us. And today by Gods grace, both of us are finance professionals.

Feroz Khan – Bless your soul, wherever you are, May Allah shower his choicest blessings on you.

Dear Sri Hari,

In my college days, I used to bicycle the distance between my home and mycollege, covering roughly about five miles each way. My route used to take me near the local 'English' medium high school, which was co-educational.

I had an English Rayleigh those days, that was cared for and the spokes were shiny and the ride was fast.

As I was cycling back one day, I spotted a group of young girls, walking outside the school, talking loudly and giggling. Like Sri LQ Ji, I imagined all sorts of things (I was barely seventeen then), and stylishly (I thought), took the rountana in front of them, with full speed.

Before I could say 'uncle', my beautiful Rayleigh decided to go it's own way and my body decided to take a different way! Lo and behold, I was on the tar top road, with a few bruises on my body, but with lots more bruises on my ego. (If I heard anyone laughing, till to date I do not remember).

So, I learnt a valuable lesson then. Speed is attractive only if you can manage it!

Pranams,
KRS

Veeran sir neenga

KRS said:

Lo and behold, I was on the tar top road, with a few bruises on my body, but with lots more bruises on my ego. (If I heard anyone laughing, till to date I do not remember).

Pranams,
KRS

Click to expand...

KRS Sir,

'Veera' vilayatulla 'vizhupunn' ellam sahajame !

Probably if you had dared (after the fall) to look at the 'group', perhaps, just perhaps, someone would have caught your 'eye' and then.....what else

you are transfixed to ooty/darjeeling/alps (depending on your budget) and Angels in white dress running in slow motion

Dear Hari/LQ/KRS

I wanted to join you guys in sharing my most embarrassing or stupid actions and was thinking of posting one. Then I realized that my WHOLE life is full of embarrassing incidents and I continue to make a fool of myself!! Since there is NO one single incident, I have decided to spare you guys!!

Booker may be awaiting

silverfox said:

Dear Hari/LQ/KRS

I wanted to join you guys in sharing my most embarrassing or stupid actions and was thinking of posting one. Then I realized that my WHOLE life is full of embarrassing incidents and I continue to make a fool of myself!! Since there is NO one single incident, I have decided to spare you guys!!

Click to expand...

SF,

Well, i don't know whether this constitutes 'escapism' but my response is :

If you have one - Write it in the forum

If you have one too many (like me) - You can still write in the forum

What i read from your post is that - if you see yourselves having too many in one life, well that calls for a book !

You should pick up the phone and speak to Macmillan, Penguin.

Foreword by KRS ji.

And for suggesting this, 25% of the royalty to me !

Deal ? Booker is waiting for you !

PS : Title Suggestions

1. Silver Speak
2. 'Days' of the Jackal/Fox - (could run into some copyright issues eh ?)
3. AAAA - America Ayyangars Anecdotes & Advice

Loosen yourself (with a peg of something in hand) and have a good laugh, along with others.

silverfox said:

Dear Hari/LQ/KRS

I wanted to join you guys in sharing my most embarrassing or stupid actions and was thinking of posting one. Then I realized that my WHOLE life is full of embarrassing incidents and I continue to make a fool of myself!! Since there is NO one single incident, I have decided to spare you guys!!

Click to expand...

silverfox said:

Dear Hari/LQ/KRS

I wanted to join you guys in sharing my most embarrassing or stupid actions and was thinking of posting one. Then I realized that my WHOLE life is full of embarrassing incidents and I continue to make a fool of myself!! Since there is NO one single incident, I have decided to spare you guys!!

Click to expand...

Dear Sri Silverfox Ji,

This ain't fair! A fool for life has the most wisdom!

Please don't spare us! I know Sri Hari's 'ulterior' motives in starting this thread, and we all need to support the idea!

Pranams,
KRS

Dear Sri Hari and Sri LQ,

Let me recount a different incident, which happened in India almost 42 years ago.

I was doing my second year B.Sc. (total 3 years) and I was not a very good student. I was a member of a five person 'gang' at the college, and every chance we got, we would cut the classes and go to a movie. Strangely, our teachers seemed to accept this, and more or less, let us do this without any bad consequences (Of course all the other four in my gang were very good students, save yours truely).

My cousin (with whom I lived), was due to appear for the CA final exams then and he was a 'page turning' preparer. What I mean is that he would turn his voluminous accounting book several times and whatever appeared before him, he studied. He said that God was with him and guide him (He sure did, because my cousin passed his CA exams on his fourth attempt!), and so he studied barely 20% of the material before his first exam.

But, he had a different resource, that he thought would help him in the exams. There was a neighbourhood lady, who went in to a trance each Friday evening and essentially did foretell the future of folks gathered around.

So, I went with my cousin to this session one day. The Lady, then about 40 years old was swaying back and forth in front of a picture of a Goddess (I don't remember who), and my cousin and I took the seat in the back of the room, among about 40 or so folks gathered there.

The protocal was that people asked questions to this Lady about what concerned them in their lives after she signalled to ask questions through a man stationed near her. She answered a couple of questions from others and suddenly she looked at me directly among the crowd and threw a banana at me! I did not expect it, and it fell on my lap! She then turned away and said 'you will go to America! you will do fine!'.

At that time I was not expecting to go to America. Nor was I doing anything academically to warrant to go to America! But as I look back now, things conspired to happen that saw me traveling to America within about six years of her prediction.

My cousin? He was unhappy that she did not foretell his CA fortunes (of course, he had to appear for the exams 3 more times!).

Pranams,
KRS

Old habits die hard

KRS said:

suddenly she looked at me directly among the crowd and threw a banana at me! I did not expect it, and it fell on my lap! She then turned away and said 'you will go to America! you will do fine!'.

KRS

Click to expand...

KRS Sir,

Interesting read.

I hope you would agree that the situation is no different now. Only thing is that the person throwing the banana of H1B is the US Consulate and our IT industry is the recipent.

Banana skin days are mostly painful and embarassing but in your case, the all ubiquitous banana has propelled you to the land of Uncle Sam. (In a lighter vein that is, else at the rate i eat bananas, i must be in running for the White house)

This happened around early 1988. Venue: Dhoulpur House, N.Delhi (HQ of UPSC).

I was scheduled to appear before UPSC Interview Board comprising of a Member from UPSC as Chairman of the Interview Board and other Board Members comprising of Mr. P.L.Ballany of BITS (a reknowned authority in Engineering, author of several books on Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics etc), Mr. Nagrath (Prof. at IITD) and some others.

Typically, UPSC invites top ranking professors from IITs and leading universities to rag the candidates before deciding the worthiness of the interviewees to join the babudom.

After ragging me thoroughly for some time (Which I beleive I could just survive) they took a break as Tea was served. The Chairman of the Board took a buiscuit, dipped in the tea a bit longer than necessary and commenced transferring it to his mouth. I was watching the whole episode with nervous curiosity.

As expected, the buiscuit had become soggy and broke in half with soggy portion dropping on the table spalshing around.

I let out what is now known in internet parlance as LOL/ROL. And immediately afterwards, my blood froze ! Thought to myself...boss, you are a gone case. They will nail my ass to the wall before throwing me out..

Chairman of the board took a hard look at me and said, thank you. Interview is over now. You may go.

But as it happens, had he really thrown me out , I would not have been where I am now. Indiscretion pays ? Can't figure out yet !

More interview sagas

Following LQ, here is my interview saga, what the heck, couple of interview sagas

Saga 1

Circa '96.

Fearing that i may write the exam again, ICAI passed me out in the finals. Before the euphoria could die down, came the next big problem.

Campus interviews.

So, the location for the first saga was the Institute premises and your truly was appearing before a panel of interviewers from BPCL.

I nervously walked in (despite back to back interviews) and was asked to 'take my seat'.

Just into the 1st minute of sitting down, questions start raining - unfortunately the budget was too fresh in their memories, to my bad luck and fin min in his infinite wisdom had just introduced Minimum Alternate Tax or MAT.

So the panelists start firing MAT salvos at me and quite appropriately 'floored' me. Just as i was longing for a Rama who would say "Indru Poi Naalai vaa" (sathiyama naan vandirukka maatten !), the lone lady member, obviously sensing my discomfort throws the first question which i could try answering.

Did i say "Try answering" ? No it was my turn to floor them with the full might of my 'knowledge' at display.

Question was : Who do you think is better Illaiyaraaja or A R Rahman ?

In Tamil there is a "saying" (!!!) - "Pinni Pedal yedukkaradhu" (LQ / SF - my apologies upfront, i cant translate or transliterate this one)

I assumed the role of a 'Masculine Kannamba' and words start flowing. Those days my loyalties were a shade higher with ARR. Almost creating a world record for a Ph.D award in the 'shortest time frame' (within the hour that is), i start rattling point after point - fusion, new voices, new approach etc..etc..

As a highlight, i also did an ERC (Explain with Reference to Context) on the movie "Mr. Romeo" which had released just then.

After 10 minutes of my enlightening speech, the panel went speechless till the same member mustered courage to ask me to leave and check out the results the next day.

Mission accomplished, i walk out with a great sense of relief only to bump into the next candidate.

"Hey, what did they ask ?"

"A lot about MAT"

"Oh...what did you say ?"

"I could hardly recall 1 or 2 points"

"Then what else ?"

"They asked me about some Accounting standards for which i had no answer"

"Oh...not a worry for me...what else ?"

"Finally they asked me who is better - Illaiyaraaja or AR Rahman ?"

"What ?" and starts to walk away. The "look" on his face, OMG, i cant forget till date.

Now the twist - Yours truly was the first name on the selected list next day.

Saga 2

Will keep it simple this time.

Setting was a "foreign" job with some McDowells Co, i think.

Question 1 : You will be posted in Mauritius...Do you where it is ?

Me : (On the strength of 37 out of 40 in 10th std Geography, CBSE), Oh sure, it is somewhere next to Maldives.

Lone panelist : Young fellow, i dont know how much you know your accounting but you surely dont know Geography !

Me: Err..Err.. sheepish grin..

Question 2 : Forget it...what is your expectation ?

Me : Rs. 4 Lacs per annum

Panelist : Listen....In case of any foreign assignment, you should always state in terms of what you want to save per annum not the salary that you want.

Me : I meant the same..My savings target is Rs. 4 lacs per annum

Now the turn of the panelist's face to do a rainbow - violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange & seething red - I dont think we can meet it.

and me....

Get out ! what else, though in not so many words.

ippa ninaichallum enakku "chipu chippaa" varudhu