My sister-friend!!!

Sari tucked in, lips pressed, brows furrowed, utter concentration, slim hands moving vigorously over a mammoth blackened cooking vessel, stirring the beginnings of a biryani that will feed at least 30 people (though the number of people actually present would be 15 - but when she cooks, everyone takes second helpings!)

Thats how I remember Christy akka. My sister-friend.

My memories go back to the time when I used to live in Pondicherry, barely 6 or 7. When dad mentioned trips to 'atthai's' house, I used to shiver - with dread! My cousins - the guys- would mercilessly tease me. MERCILESSLY (in caps!) They would call their jobless friends and everyone would join in teasing this girl-who-looked-like-a-boy-because-of-the-haircut-that-her-parents-
religiously-made-her-get. I would start with ignoring it, then I would yell, then I would throw their stuff around and in the end, I would howl! And she would come, give her brothers and the other guys a verbal bash and take me inside the house and let me play with her 'make up sets'!

Then when I was in Delhi, during the summer, when we visited Tamil Nadu, akka would beg mummy to let her take my brother and I for...anything! Could be a movie, could be a trip to the bakers, could be a visit to her hostel (she studied law at Pondicherry Law College). I remember the way she used to introduce me to her friends, "Remember, I told you.....my maama's daughter..Ashi!!!" and they would all go, "ohhhhhhh...so yooooouuuuu are her maama's daughter!" and I would glow! When twenty odd college girls, roughened up in law school talk like that to you, you just shimmer!

Then I came to Chennai. I was a teenager, akka was in her late twenties. I still remember the day she got registered with the Bar Council. I was floating! I was so proud! The first lawyer in the family! My akka! She was practicing law with a firm in Chennai. So, she used to visit often. School, fights, boys, crushes, grades, clothes, hairstyles, fashion, everything - we began to bond. That special bond that comes only at a certain age with certain people. We bonded. We became more than just sisters. We were friends. Best friends.

During family occasions, everyone would chuckle, because they said that akka and I looked alike! I know that she was as proud of me as I was of her! When we were together, we were always together! I couldnt cook for an ant and she could cook for entire families! So, I just stood with her in the kitchen, while she concocted the best sambars, chutneys, chicken fries and anything edibles that I have ever tasted. She cooked, I talked! She loved me, I loved her.

Three days ago, my father called me. After the call, I just sat on the floor. This had to be a joke.

Christy akka could not have died.

But she did.

The most difficult thing about death is how nothing changes. I remember watching the birds and the newly bloomed flowers and saying, how can you sing? how can you bloom? When she is no more? The reality of her death is slowly settling in. Its been 3 days since my akka died. But it feels like its been years. Many years.

She might have gone, but she lives. In my mind, in my memories, in my words.

Her unrestrained laughter, her revolutionary(read: experimental) hairstyles that she would try out on me(!!), her passed on lipsticks, mascaras, clothes and perfumes, her sensational biryani, her companionship, her presence, her gentle kiss, her affectionate hug and so many million little sister-sister things will all be missed.

I love you akka. I miss you. Will always.


-Ashi

The war!

It all started with a smirk.

Well, frankly it all started with the fact that I was planning to buy a bicycle to save me waiting time at the bus stop and I realized that the only spare tyre I knew was around my middle..hehehe!! And I thought - must-go-to-the-gym. That thought has crossed my mind so many times this past 6 months, that it simply bores me to death now. But when apart from physically, when I started to feel sluggish mentally as well, I just knew it was time for action.

So I said to myself, ~ Its hitting the gym time!!! ~ And it smirked. The physical me just smirked! I have had half a year of inactivity, puncuated with just a burst of a week's worth of jogging (stopped that after I started coming back with a blue nose atop a frozen face) but really, the nerve!!

So after accounting revision class today (where my brain was actually comatose) I hit the gym. Oh, the snigger and the subsequent smirks!

First, I couldnt find the gym. The Uni sports centre is absolutely mazey! I went through a dozen squash courts, two table tennis courts, a conditioning suite, the toilets, the showers, a couple of undergrad girls putting mascara on and then FINALLY (!!) the cardiovascular suite! By now, the physical me was doubling up with pretending-to-be-good-laughter, you know, the kind where the person you are laughing at knows you are laughing at her, but then you are watering at your eyes, but trying to keep a straight face while your mouth cant help showing the teeth?? That kind of laughter.

2 kilometers of treadmill (at speed 8 for about 1 km) and 3.5 kms of cycling !! I did it! Went to the gym !! Oh victory is sweet! The victory of will over mind. Was empowering to tell my body to listen to me and not vice versa!!

Aah! First step taken, the journey of a thousand miles begun!

:)))))
Ash

My valentine!

I got an e-valentine card today! Meticulously done in Paintbrush and accompanied with a nice letter over email that explained how he got into a fist fight with a boy who called him and his family bad names in English, Hindi and Malayalam!! My 10 year old neighbour in Chennai, Jithu, found time and inspiration for making me smile and chuckle!!

Thank you Jithu and AJ (the 'in our hearts' means jithu's and ajay's hearts!)

:))))
me!

Culinary adventures

Remember when you were a kid and playing cricket? Facing the meanest bowler to have ever been born on the earth. He(they were usually guys, girls make the sweetest street cricket bowlers ever!) would go back a kilometer, to come running towards the pitch with a velocity you thought belonged only to the leopard, to throw the ball with such vigor and energy that all your senses would say, ....drop the bat....RUN FOR LIFE!!! But of course, you couldn't do that, because then the guys would say, "Aaaah, didnt we tell you, girls cant play cricket??!!!" So you grit your teeth, grip the bat and pray that later in life you find someone who will love you, just the way you were about to become....squashed nose and broken teeth!!

And then, you close your eyes and out of sheer reflex action swing the bat...it makes contact with that meteor ball...and you rattle from head to toe like a tuning fork almost forgetting to whisper a word of thanks for the spared nose and mouth! And then you hear it....applause, cheer, hurrah!! Its a SIX!!!

Victory is sweeter when its unexpected! So is curry!

When I had gone to Fathers John, Laurence and Stefan's house for lunch on Christmas day, they requested me to make the UK famous, Indian 'Curry'. Novice as I am at cooking, but amateur as I am at masking the novice-ness , I made something out of the plethora of spices that the priests had for some unknown reason hoarded up in the kitchen cupboard. They liked it. Phew!

Weeks later, Father Stefan saw me at church and called me aside. "Ashika" he said, " I never paid attention to how you made the curry last time. And I havent stopped thinking about it!!"
Pat pat! Ma would be proud of me!

So, Sush and I, went to Broomhouse to have lunch with the priests this afternoon. They wanted 'authentic' Indian food, so I made, chicken curry and tomato rice (actually the only other things I know how to make apart from omelette and hot water! No, wait! I know how to make sambar too!OHHH! Pat pat!!) And there were guests! (Talk about external examiners!)

Ok, I am not going to go into the details of the whole lunch episode and I am not going to pat myself again (pride cometh before a fall!) but I was a happy lass when the curry and the rice was wiped finish!! And Leo the labrador who usually just gave me a wee glimpse and would trot away, while I ran behind him, today insisted that I give him a tummy rub...I wonder why?! :p!!(oh, btw he ate the rice and curry too!)

Thinking of opening a restaurant in Edinburgh!



Ash

Different Genes!

Its been two weeks since I started volunteering for Salvation Army. I had only heard about them in the many Chicken Soup for the soul books, so out of sheer curiosity I once entered their shop and never looked back!! Because they sold books that otherwise would have been for 20 - 40 pounds for about .5 GBP!! I am a woman and its in my genes to stop and make use of any discount/sale! Hence, everytime I cross the Salvation Army place (its a shame, I know..I've been there so many times, but I still don't know what the place is called!) I end up buying at least one book!

Anyways, since I have'nt exactly been the Queen of Luck with regards to getting a part timer, I thought of at least volunteering. The first day of my volunteering, I am dressed in black trousers, a white shirt and boots - compulsory dress code for the shop. Maggi, the store manager ushers me into the store room - whoaa! The place was filled with all sorts of stuff - clothes, suitcases, shoes, stuffed toys, lingerie (seriously!), books floor to ceiling and I am absolutely not exaggerating! And after showing me the tea pot she introduced me to a lady - my guess was about 50 years- called Somaeya. She was pretty and had the greenest eyeshadow I have ever seen and matching eyes!! So Somaeya got into a rapid - what are you doings, where are you froms etc etc! Within five minutes of being introduced to this lady, I came to know that she was an ex-hippie! Wheee!! She happily recounted tales of her visits to India (yes, I asked her if she was a part of the ISKCON movement- but no she wasnt, said she was too lazy to be involved in spiritual stuff.) and how she spent days smoking hash and doing nothing else!

Anyways, I started sorting out the clothes and hanging them on the shelves after identifying their sizes, it wasnt exactly 'fun' but it was'nt boring either and after I got the hang of it, I was pretty quick at it! After sometime (between which I found out that Somaeya had two cats - an uncle and a nephew- and she loved them to bits and that she had been married once to a person she had had a relationship for seven years and after two days of marraige she walked out :-o) she suddenly asked me,"So Ashaaaika, if you're from India, where are your parents from?" - whaahahahahah?!?!!?!?!!? It took me a second to comprehend what she was asking me and after biting back a 'duh' I said, err...they're from India too.

And then she said something that would make my brother proud (and kind of reiterate what K says as well!) "ohhh, okie..well, you look part malaysian." SIGH! I've grown up with a brother who always said that I had japanese genes because of 'chinky eyes' and 'flat nose' and got that seconded by a best friend( there were very few days when Gaay woildnt point out that I was 'chinky'! And when she wasn't talking about chinkiness, she would...ok, I am not talking about 'that' now!!)

Well, not like I have any problems with looking chinese or malaysian or japanese! But I think of myself as an exotic Indian girl (ok, that was a bit too much!), as a very Indian girl with Indian genes and quite proud of it!

But seriously...a woman who talks to me for a few minutes has a doubt if I am part malaysian- SIGH!

On a more cheerul note(!!) - Clement and Divya - Wish you both a very happy married life! Don't let married life stop you from blogging or posting comments on mine! God bless you both!

Happy Feet!

Thank you Clement for the resourceful pic on ' how to refresh your childhood memories'!! And of course, thank you Sofia and Sushma for torturing me on my sick bed and forcing me to lace up my sneakers because Dr.Sofia (who is not a doctor) and Dr. Sushma (who is also not a doctor) decided that the Happy New Year fever might make me dimmer witted. Hence, it was decided by these honorary docs, that to give my brain an excercise, I must fix those laces! Anyways, despite the fact that I thought I might die of cold, fever and lacing up sneakers, I SURVIVED! And am happily trotting away in the streets of Edinburgh!
So in response to my previous post on 'HELP' - I now have Happy Feet!

When the clock struck 2.....

I am a sound sleeper. I can sleep through any sound , of any nature. Have slept through earthquakes, floods, gales, telephone calls, alarm clocks, kicks, tickles and of course, lectures. But when I dont sleep like I usually do, I know something is terribly wrong. Tonight was one such night. Despite the fact that I had woken up on time (11.00 am :D) and had had a considerably productive day, at 12.00 AM, I was so awake, I thought I had never slept.

12.00 am turned to 12.40 am, which later turned to 1.27 am to 1.50 am. I tried listening to gospel music to Enya to New York nagaram (a personal favorite for all the situational reasons, though it is a bit off the mark considering that New York is nowhere near Fresno and that I am warming my seat in Edinburgh!) but nothing helped. And then, when the clock struck 2....all enlightenment dawned on me...I WAS HUNGRY!!! (Ok, dont ask me what took me two hours to realise that I was hungry! I wont answer you.)

Making a mental meal, I picked up my kitchen keys and walked towards the kitchen, already seeing the spaghetti I had decided to make in all hues and shades of orange and red ( all my dishes are Indianised, be it spaghetti or pasta!) and thinking,"Ash, you must be the craziest girl in the whole world to....well, you must be the craziest girl in the world." Period!

Key in the lock, a twist to the right, a creak and Leonard Horner Hall wouldnt have ever heard nor will.. a scream so loud and in harmony and in two accents, mine and chinese!! lol!! Xi Zhen my cute chinese friend was sitting on the table sorrounded by bread, pasties, soups, chocolate spreads and juice!

"Asshiikha, uu skhaaa meee, I skhaa u" was all she could manage before we both started giggling at the banshee screams we had not known we were capable of! She hadnt been able to sleep and had come to feed the tummy monster as well!! It must have been a funny sight, Ashika, her hair askew, with red spaghetti and a fork along with Xi Zhen again hair askew, with an assortment of dishes and chopsticks! Two girls, in the middle of the night, discussing chinese food and Indian movies, and short concentration spans and sleeping during lectures, while faithfully stuffing our faces!!

We both finished eating some 15 minutes ago! Bade each other good night and I came back to my room secure in the knowledge that I am not as crazy as I had thought I was! Misery and midnight hunger crave company!!

My eyes are starting to droop now, I'll go back to the world of sweet sleep!


Ciao!!
Ash