Friday, December 08, 2006

Miles of Tales Condensed in a Sigh

Once in a deep and sombre mood, I wrote a poem - "Miles of Tales Condensed in a Sigh!". Its' still my favourite. With an open mind, you may also like it perhaps.
Hear the hypnotic tales, from graves dead men shout,
Passionate lives, lived or dreamt, calmly recount.
Whom they loved, and who deceived,
Magnanimities and cussedness, given and received.
Laughter and tears, grief and stifled cry,
Miles of tales, condensed in a sigh.

Link to the complete Poem at my blog

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Ramu With Sadhu Merani

(Thus Spake Ramu):-
Hi folks

After enjoying some mouth watering chaat at Chaat Paradise in Sunnyvale, Shobha& I (duly chauffered by Rohit & navigated by Bhavana & Baby Mira in tow) drove into Meranis sprawling Ranch at Las Gatos on 18th at 2.58 pm. Merani was waiting eagerly at the door to receive his Mech'71 buddy after 35 years perhaps a little apprehensive as to whether he would be able to recognise me or not.


But recognition was instantaneous and the joy unbounded.He rushed out to greet us & shepherded us all graciously into his drawing room. Sudha soon made her appearance and after the initial round of introductions we settled down comfortably for a long chat.As Merani & I were deeply engrossed in our own conversation about life at IIT & thereafter,blissfully oblivious of all else present, Shobha & Sudha took the opportunity to know each other better. It turned out that Sudha was brought up in Chennai and had her schooling at Church Park(same school that Madam Jayamma also attended).Sudha also narrated some interesting experiences with some of the Mech'71ers whom she had an opportunity to meet during their visit to Dilli in Dec' 2000 -the confidential & classified details are being with held.
Merani & Sudha turned out to be fantasic hosts. After a session of digital photography Sudha led us all into the dining room for High Tea - mountains of sandwiches, varieties of cakes & cookies, samoosas & what not.What a veritable feast ! Had we known about the generous spread in advance we might have decided to give a skip to the chaat paradise.
The Meranis have two children - son works in San Fransisco & daughter is doing her undergrad.
Merani it turned out has a passion for gardening.He took us on a tour of his lawn & garden - showed us his special oak tree which he reported as the tallest on his street,the tulip tree which flowered in winter and his fish pond which had some exotic & very colourful varieties of fish.
Soon it was time to bid adieu-all good things have to come to an end ! And we departed carrying pleasant memories with us.
Tho photographs are still in the camera & will be posted shortly.
Bye folks
Ramu

Ramu In US

(Thus Spake Ramu):-
Hi Guys

A brief report on my visit to the US so far :
1.Had a 2 hour long meeting with Julka at a Las Vegas bar - reminiscing about 35 years of life after IIT ! Julka now offers free consultancy on how to gain a pound a day and double your weight in 50 days ! Neither of us had a camera hence no snaps are available.


2.Met Nirmal Singh & Jas Kiran at a New Jersey Pub - We had a smashing time indeed. Nirmal is now offerring consultancy on how to get to the US as a student after you are 55 ! Photographs are available & will follow.Sorry Gill about being unable to make it to Buffalo -we missed a good opportunity ! Missed you too Deepak at NJ !
3.Have a meeting set up with Merani at Los Gatos on 18th. Really looking forward to seeing you Chander ! Understand Rajiv is somewhere in your neighbourhood - Do you think you can get him to join us on 18th ?
And congratulations to Puj on his daughters wedding at Guruvayoor Temple. Really wonderful news indeed. Guruvayoor is just 2 hours drive from Coimbatore & I certainly will attend.Hope to see other Mech'71ers too there at least guys like Girish,Venkat,Murali,Guvrus. Weddings are normally conducted outside the temple so upper garments can be retained. However for entry into the temple it is mandatory for men have to go topless.
Ramu
Camp : Washington

Beta Sab Bare Peg Serve Honge

Gulla on The VV Club Get Together Nov'06
Know how to wreak havoc in a staid, conservative institution such as the Vasant Vihar Club?
You start by getting Shorty - in his rich, fruity baritone - coach the bar waiters - country yokels of recent import from Bihar - the niceties of fine service. "Beta sab bare peg serve honge aur tum poochna nahin bas laate jaana, laate jana!"


Then you have the saints - the creme de la creme of Mech 71 - come marching in - here a VK, anon a NK, even a Rajni Kant from Mumbai - and the tables start filling midst much merriment & bonhomie - a sudden blare of trumpets and in march KC & Ranjana & Sheikh Pujari along with Maestro Marwaha (who has single handedly brought our maverick flock together again after many a year). KC firmly declines a snifter - "Oye main peeta nahin hoon! " - but then who is he to pit his feeble cunning against the wiles of Shorty's writ? A puff of bar dust and our hero is holding a glass in both hands. No such temperance problems for old Puj! A deft flutter of his burnoose and a discrete flash of them dinars and the waiters promptly forget their tutorial and flock around him with an assortment of potent containers, each clamouring for his custom.

KC dwells on his approaching grand-father hood with much pride. A sudden hush prevails as he goes into the intricacies of gripe water, nappy rash and pottie training. Marwaha nods knowingly & the dapper Manchi listens carefully. They mix KC another chhota. Shorty starts singing "The Mayor of Bayswater. . . " Pujari invites us all to his daughter's wedding in January in Kerala. It is to be solemnised at the Guruvoyur Temple. He is aghast when informed he will have to go topless and in a lungi - or did we confuse the setting with Sabrimalai? GB & Ramu would know.

We troop in for dinner - a huge spread of the best and brightest VV Club has to offer. And then its packup time - Petkoff Sunil Gupta speaks his third sentence of the evening & the event draws to a fitting close.

Thanks heaps - Marwaha & Shorty and all those present - for another impeccable do. Perfect as always! Eyes down now for Merani's, and then El Gill's & jolly Johri's evenings! Delhi is shining!

Gulla (from Vienna airport, waiting to connect a flight!)

PS I don't think all the 71ers have been addressed - Normal bhai pls forward to those I've missed out! Thanks