Bachelor's Kavithai

கை செய்யும் தவறுக்கு நாக்கிற்கு தண்டனை
செல்்ப் குக்கிங்!

~ அருண்

kai seiyum thavarukku naakirku thandanai
Self Cooking!

- Arun

Hips, Hugs and Hulas

There have been many firsts in this travel – it’s the first time I travel out of India, it’s the first time I flew in a Boeing, also the first time I brush shoulders with Brits. Over the days here, this has transcended into several overlaps (and sometimes incursions) into their life style. Last Friday, I had a chance to peep into yet another ‘hi-life’ style of western culture – the Disco.

TGIF!! Friday night is party time. When the week’s share of toil (?!) is over, and there are 2 full days to rejuvenate before the next week kicks in, ‘rest’ is the last thing in ! I was settling down with some movies for the week end, when my colleagues pulled me up for a taste of the night life; and we shot our way out to ‘Chicago Rocks’, a club in town.

I am a nervous wrack. Flocks of party-goers with bottles on one side and babes on the other – a sight that would be a fascination for a lad made me nervous. May be, I wasn’t used to all this before. But it was all to change in the next few minutes. After spending a dime of a time waiting to be let in, we stepped into a world of dance and drinks. We picked up our drinks – I picked up a ‘KICK’ hoping I have at least in name what others have in their ‘more exquisite’ drinks. As I sipped through my drink, I tried to absorb myself into the mood; by the time the drink was done, I was on the dance floor. Feet tapping progressed to hand clapping; and soon I was jiggling all over. The party has begun!

Song after song, beat after beat, I danced my time out, ‘Jai Ho’ and ‘Slumdog’ only pepping up the mood further. Mind it when I say I danced - it was more a jiggle here and jerk there than any coherent co-ordination of the limbs. However, fellow dancers (Brits) were gracious enough in encouraging my amateur act; with one even going to the extent of being ‘generous enough' to let me dance with his girl (but before she could come over to my side, her ‘actual BF’ jumped in and dragged her away).

As the moon climbed up further over the midnight sky; and cash dipped deep into the corners of our pockets, we called it quits. I returned to my room; and turned on my laptop to move on with my movies. Quite bizarre is the human mind – what else could explain that after all the burning of cash and calories, I watched a movie on hunger and poverty! No wonder, in a country where thousands are losing jobs every day, the party bells ring late into the night!!

Rendezvous with IAF

The alarm beeped.. it was 6 in the morning. I rubbed my eyes and gazed at the ceiling. It will be a challenging day today... over 5 meetings slotted for the day... the thought of it really pissed me off. Putting those thoughts aside and enthusing (consoling!) myself to look at the brighter side, i got ready and arrived at the dining table at half past 7. The lounge was crowded; there was lot of activity going on... i didn't mind popping out to see what's happening... i had enough things to worry about. After grubbing through the cereals and fruits, i was gazing across the lawn awaiting my course when i heard a voice over my head, "Good Morning! Can i have this seat?" There was a gentleman standing beside me . There weren't enough tables around; so he requested if i can share my table with him. I obliged. By this time, my main course had arrived and we started talking as we had our breakfast.

I introduced myself, "Hi! I am Arun. Working with Honeywell as Business Analyst"

He replied, "Hello! I am Srinivas, Wing Commander, IAF".

I almost dropped my fork. It dawned on me; i looked around; to find most of the tables occupied by IAF personnel. I really couldn't believe i was dining with a wing commander of IAF that too in a foreign country. More surprised was i, when i got to know that he too is from Chennai and that he visits Madurai often to meet his sister (Jeez... the world is a small place after all). We were soon joined by his boss - the Group Captain. They apprised me that they have come to visit Agusta Westland (Honeywell and Westland share the same campus) who have submitted bids to sell helicopters to IAF. So, after a good chat for 5 minutes, i exchanged pleasantries and took leave of them with a solid military hand shake that almost broke my hand.

At 5 the evening, i was reading news on Times Of India website...
"Govt cancels tenders for 22 copters for IAF. The bidders include AgustaWestland...."