Naanga 4 Paeru..Engaluku Bayame Therila.

Disclaimer: Characters in this story are completely real and any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely intentional.

Department la engala ilankandru nu sonnanga (We were known as the young saplings in our department). We were the untouchables.

This post is dedicated to four bachelors referred to as Anbuchelvan, Srikanth, Arul and Ilamaran hereinafter. 

It was the year 2008. Anbuchelvan was still in college and was full of young blood. Hyderabad reckoned and he was on deputation in the notorious city for one year to go. Srikanth and Arul were also about to join him very soon. Anbuchelvan had found a lonely place in Madinaguda near Chanda Nagar for their hideout during the period. It was a very awaited beginning. It was not more than one week that Anbu had spent alone before his team joined him. Ilamaran was not a part of the team then.

Life progressed for the young tigers and everything was smooth till one night when the unexpected happened. Shrikanth and Arul wanted to move out of Madinaguda. Their work was demanding and they had to stay close to their workplace. It was a risky job. They needed to be cautious. Once again Anbuchelvan was left to deal with his enemies alone. The team disintegrated. But only for a short while. Anbu could not bear solitude and he decided to move in with Shri and Arul about a month later.

Shri was a notorious young officer. His character was like Kamal Hasan in Panchathanthiram. In short, he was the "dude" among the three. Swathi came into his life very soon. She was from Orissa. Shrikanth being the dude, had no problems in maintaining figures from various states in the country. He was the "language no bar guy". But there was a downside to their love story. Like most modern jinglis (beautiful girls) of India, Swathi never took her purse out whenever they went out. This was a big blow to Shrikanth. He could not manage that big a hole in his purse and was put into a "Finance Problem Machi" at the end of each month.

Arul was known to be the diligent officer of the three. He was duty conscious to an unexplainable extent. But this was how people thought about him. His true colors came out when he was sent to Bangalore for an encounter. He showed his skills by "line putting" for 3 kulavilakkus (South Indian sirens). Anbuchelvan who was with him for the mission soon found out about Arul's leelaigal (naughty behavior). But the encounter was not a failure and Arul was undoubtedly the most ardent of the three.

Then came Ila into their lives. Ilamaran was the most intelligent of the four. He was the kingmaker. He devised sketches for encounters. He was an encounter specialist. He was the one who laid out sketches for all weekends throughout the team's stay in Hyderabad. His plans showed variety. They ranged from Anjappar tactics to Chutney tactics to Taste(y) the cyanide to Idly kadai warfare. Though he was so brilliant at work, Ilamaran had one weakness. He was fond of eating. He used to eat 16 palm-sized idlis for breakfast. When Anbuchelvan noticed this weakness and warned him of his pot belly which would disrupt his challenging missions, he did not yield. He lied to the team that he ate only 4 palm sized idlis. God Promise.

Readers should not think of Anbuchelvan as the "Good Man" in the team. The above paragraphs definitely portray him as one. But he was a "thiruttu bemani" (notorious rascal). He was more experienced than Shrikanth in figure matters. He was the headmaster in the school that Shri went to. He used to have false encounter cases in Bangalore for obvious reasons. He had a harley davidson 125 cc bike that he used for fishing in hyderabad waters. He tried his hands on many "kazhuvara meens"(fish that are being washed) with his HD 125. But all of the "meens" were "nazhuvura meens" (Fish that slip from hands).

Ila, Anbu, Shri, Arul....They were the untouchables. Though they have been portrayed with many weaknesses in their character sketch, they were a strong team. They were a formidable force. Arul, Anbu and Ila played football sometimes. Anbu thought (still believes) he is a right winger and likens himself to Cristiano Ronaldo. Ila is a strong defender. He was good at "break-leg-take-ball" tactics and hence defended very strongly. Arul was made of a very weak physique. He had a few skills to add to his kitty. But they were no good against Ila's break-leg...tactics. Shri was into football too. But he did not take his expertise to the field. He was content with pressing 'W' to give through balls and pressing 'D' to shoot (FIFA '07). Nevertheless, he was a prolific goal scorer (on the computer).

It was a really joyful experience for all the four in each other's company. Hyderabad was turning out to be a nice outing for the four till something really sad happened.....

To be Continued................. Part 2 here

P.S: Cast of the "Police Story" would be detailed after part ii of the series.

P.P.S: If the story did not make sense to a reader due to the high suspense quotient in the content, our team offers an apology. We shall try to make things clear in part ii of the series.

Hyderabad ke chichore potte aur khubsoorath pottiyaa ..khuda hafiz !

For the den-(no)-zens of Hyderabad, the title means"Good bye to all the naughty boys and beautiful gals of Hyderabad"

It is difficult to love the city that you live in, a city that you roamed about for two years. But it is even more difficult to leave it. With just one week left for me in this beautiful city that introduced me into the professional world, the feelings are of a mixed kind. Though I haven't converted myself into a "Pukka Hyderavaadi laundey" (A perfect Hyderabaadi youngster) in the two years, to part ways is indeed becoming an emotional affair. I am on my way to Chennai for a new job and the feeling is good to be back at home full-fledged, after 6 long years. The downside of it is bidding goodbye to the best years of my bachelorhood. The two years after graduation have introduced me into a truly cosmopolitan lifestyle in this city which is indigenous in its own sense.

This week would be my last one in Hyderabad and I have a bucket list of things to do before I leave. I will miss all the 'maal' that the city provided me with as I am going to barren terrain on the "masth maal hai re" front. To mark my last weekend here, I did a few things from my to-do list, like the Cafe Nandini coffee and meetha paan. The icing on the cake was my best friend's visit on this last weekend. This guy made my day. I had the perfectly lazy agenda for his visit and we managed to do nothing but eat, sleep, drink and football.

I would definitely miss the Madhapur jalsas, New year highs, paradise biriyanis, chutneys lip-smackers, mana ammayilus (eligible Hyderabadi spinsters), late night masala chai, the completely useless traffic police (who have managed to milk only 230 rs. for my TN registration bike over one and half years of its usage. With TN police the number would have touched 4 digits long back.), north indian jinglis, telangana maniacs, rayalaseema warriors, colorful telugu movies, bramhanandam comedy tracks, rockview apartments, neela residency, babulal (owner sahib), Hyderabadi language, a concept called winter (Chennai does not have a season called winter), the number of audis, mercedes', BMW's, volkswagens that flood jubilee and banjara hills, a high sex ratio on the company roster (I am moving to a highly testosterone driven workplace at Chennai), Karachi bakery biscuits, road side chat bhandaars, double ka meetha (a speciality Hyderabadi dessert), tastey foods kothu barota, mutta veechu parotta, hot rotis home food, front seats on the share autos and a lot more. But the icing on the Hyderabad piece of my cake has been and will always be my wonderful time with him, him and him, my dearest room mates.

It is tough to bid khuda hafiz to the numerous friends that I have made here-at work and outside. My friends at work place who have shaped me into a professional and people outside who have given me company for all the typical bachelor matters.

But I am looking forward to many other new things in Chennai for I am going back after quite a long time. First day first shows for all tamil padams, Besant Nagar beach, ECR drives, paruppu, vatha kozhambu (Sambar variety made out of tamarind), melagu rasam, thair saadam, mom's love, radio mirchi, tamil kulavilakkus,Satyam cinemas, murugan idli shop, saravanaa bhawan, isaiaruvi (tamil music channel), sun music, adithya(tamil comedy channel), sirippoli(-do-), relatives, car driving, t nagar shopping, various kalyana sapadu menu items in brahmin marriages etc.

Nevertheless, It is time to say adios to a really beautiful city that I will never forget.

Aiderawaadi Bhai jaan, Milthao Yaaro!!!

SouthFull

It was a windy sunday evening. I woke up from my afternoon nap, which is becoming kind of a ritual during weekends of late. A mini sandstorm had just passed by. The weather was really awesome. A perfect one for a romantic walk or something along the seashore. I streched myself and got out of bed to get the picturesque bird's eye view of the IT park nearby, from my third floor apartment. It was gratifying. I walked out to get some cool breeze coz it was one rare evening in the month of march when the temparatures usually start to soar. I walked towards the tea shop with my room mates for a cup of 'chai'-customary on a sunday evening. As I walked past the narrow lanes with the low walls that helped many couples on lazy weekends, I started to feel as if I was walking through lush green fields, enjoying the scented fresh air. I got lost in thoughts as my mind wandered. The picture of the green fields in my mind slowly made me feel nostalgic. I wondered about those small vacations to less known villages in south tamil nadu about a decade back. The village atmosphere has always interested me a lot since childhood. I was excited by the freshness in the air coz these valleys have really low pollution levels

Having spent the most part of my school life in Chennai, I have always had a liking for the serene and calm valleys in the southern countryside. I have a bucket list of things to do before i die and the first in the list is to live a year or two in a hill station running a small shop for daily bread. That sounds pretty weird for the detailing of the occupation and stuff in those couple of years. Looking up into the black sky and wondering how many stars there are in the universe, from a hill top--an out of the world feeling I would say. The most attractive thing about a hill is the fact that you see the most beautiful creations of mother nature below you--I mean, the altitude. It gives you a feel. I am running out of words to explain the beauty of it.

Avoiding the hustle and bustle of city life, one really gets to experience paradise on earth. The other thing about small towns of the south that interests me is the annual festival that happens as a custom. It is known as 'thiruvizha' in tamil and it would be a once-in-a-lifetime-experience for a city dweller. Crowds thronging the narrow street that has those exhibition stalls and the legendary eat outs-Absolutely amazing. The event is a chance for people from nearby towns and villages to spend a lazy weekend evening with their spouse and children. I have been to a couple of these melas during my earlier summer vacations. And both the times there was this light drizzle early in the evening that makes the climate really enjoyable. One can embark on a new chapter of life in these towns located on the hills and the nearby valleys. It instills a feel of romance. The ice cold fresh waterfalls in these hills have made me dumbstruck many a time. These places are fraught with the complete beauty of mother nature. I got immersed in the thoughts of the life in such places which are known to have very low population densities.

I sprang back into reality when my friend patted from behind to tell me that i had walked past the tea stall. The weather was pleasent yet. I had my regular cup of 'chai' and walked back to catch up with the weekend premier league football. It was the early kick off that i wanted to watch that day. I wanted to think a lot more about those but i ended up watching the lunch time football with the usual packet of potato chips and my mug of beer.