Memories - the April chapter

documenting fond and fun memories so i don't lose them.. and of course, to make space for new ones. 

Apr 1st: today's the birthday of Tumkuru Siddhaganga Matha's Shivakumar Swamiji ajjar.. a fun memory was recently finding his name among the people who performed the prana prastisthapana of Ayyappa Swami in the temple close to where we now live.

Apr 2nd: a few months ago.. i got chatting with the lady in front of me at the restroom queue.. we were both attending the srividya workshop. turns out she's my senior from school, belonged to the same house even but had passed out way before i had joined. we also had the same house-teacher! it was a happy coincidence and we have turned into good friends since!

Apr 3rd: about twenty-four years ago.. when I moved to bengaluru to look for a job.. a college-senior and friend padmalatha.. found me a place at her hostel and helped me around.. she was very supportive and very helpful... my fondest memory is of us going out for softies(ice-creams) every weekend. i owe her tons of softie money

Apr 4th: today's memory is as gross as it is funny.. many years ago, i rented a place above a cowshed.. one day while leaving for work, i stopped to talk to my neighbour when a cow snuck up and licked the entire length of my forearm.. leaving it covered with green goo that smelled horrible. the smell, the colour, the texture - everything about it was disgusting... i had to rush back home and scrub the arm clean before leaving for work again.

Apr 5th: contd. the landlord that owned the cowshed fed the cows left-over cabbage leaves procured from a nearby market... the milk i bought from them always smelled strongly of cabbage. while it was unpleasant, i did not want to antagonise them by buying milk elsewhere

Apr 6th: today's fun memory happened a few years ago.. when i used to dry my clothes in a common area along with other renters.. there was a huge pair of jeans among my clothes.. when i saw it, i was amused at how huge it was and wondered who among the renters was that big.. eventually realizing it was my own pair, one i had outgrown!

Apr 7th: bobo had been whistling during our morning tea today.. reminded me of the time i had taken to whistling.. and during one of the NCC tests, i promised God that I'd give up whistling for good if i'd get selected for the next NCC camp. I got through and I have never whistled since.

Apr 8th: today's memory is of my downstairs neighbour uncle.. we would always run into him in the basement and he was quite fond of talking to bobo. he once showed us a stent that was embedded into his arm should he need a dialysis... it was right under his skin and you could feel it when you touched his arm!

Apr 9th: when i cleared my first job interview soon after college, i got a phone from the office letting me know so and that they would let me know more in the coming days.. in my excitement i forgot that i was to wait... and went to the office the very next day, dressed to the nines... only to be sent back with a stern advice!

Apr 10th: today's memory is of the most beautiful experience in my adult life - seeing a barn owl.. it was dark outside.. and i stepped into the balcony and was face to face with a barn owl sitting on the opposite building with it's back towards me and looking straight at me... i stood still.. it then turned its head all the way around on its other side and looked straight at me.. after a few moments, it turned all the way again and looked straight at me.. this went on for a while. it was the most beautiful bird ever.. it was such a peaceful moment.. and watching it made me so happy

Apr 11th: early on in my working years, my team mates and i once went to eat at mc donalds.. bobo was there too.. i had no clue about vegetarian and non-vegetarian markings on the burgers.. and i had never eaten at a macd before.. i got myself a zinger burger assuming it was a word play on 'ginger' and hence vegetarian.. took a bite even.. before a colleague pointed out.. i was able to exchange my burger with another colleague.. that was my first and only brush so far with eating a non-vegetarian dish... i remember thinking it tasted exactly like paneer

Apr 12th: this other time, i took an overnight bus in china, we had to sit all the time. the only other person who spoke english was a young teenager or maybe he was in his early twenties, a keanu reeves look-alike.. and he kept me company.. folks in the bus shifted their seats to allow us to sit together... that was very kind of them.

Apr 13th: this is a memory of when I was waiting for Su's delayed flight to arrive at the Delhi airport, and was among the many people crowded around the airlines' help desk.. a young girl got told that her flight had been re-scheduled to the next day.. she loitered around.. knowing what i knew, i explained to her that she's eligible to get accomodation from the airlines. she went back to the help-desk, talked to the guy meaningfully and actually had someone else come over and tell her that they will arrange for her stay. felt so good that day! 

Apr 14th: another feel-good memory.. a college-going girl once asked me for directions to a temple in the vicinity. and i taught her right there how to use google maps on her own phone. 

Apr 15th: when i first moved into my own apartment, i put my bed beside the huge windows in the living room. the moon would be visible all night and it was especially beautiful around the full moon days. the happiness i felt watching the moon and trying to fall asleep has no words to fully describe it.

Apr 16th: contd. in the mornings, the birds would come chirping. there was a lot of greenery around and mynas and sparrows would sit in that particular window grill that has a lot of perchable places.. the birds were really loud especially the mynas ... and a joy to behold! it was like living in my own private heaven.

Apr 17th: one day i saw one of the most beautiful birds - a tiny brown bird much smaller than a sparrow.. it had white dots on it's stomach.

Apr 18th: a recent memory.. of me trying to lift a pug with one hand, at a friend's house... turned out pugs are amazingly heavy, and not fluffly and light at all. i had to use both my hands and all my strength to get the live cylinder off the floor!

Apr 19th: this is a fond memory of a kitten that unintentionally hurt me. a friends kitten tried to climb up my leg.. and slipped on my jeans a bit.. and so dug her claws in to arrest the slip.. they went right through the jeans and into my flesh.. after that, the kittie was able to finish her climb.. leaving behind a tiny pool of blood and gore on my thigh

Apr 20th: this is a fun memory of hanging out with Sarah in Penang. Sarah took me to a dry-fruits and candy store that had huge open containers and small try-outs. I was hesistant, but Sarah insisted and we ended up eating a lot of candy and dry fruit bits from the try-out trays. It was fun and quite filling. 

Apr 21st: this is the memory of all the exciting rides at Universal Studios in Singapore... all in the first row.. because a good friend who lived there on PR accompanied me.. thus putting us at the head of each queue, saving us a lot of time.. and giving me a VIP feel

Apr 22nd: this is a fun memory of when bobo and i hung out to shop at a popular shopping street... we passed by a boiled sweetcorn vendor and he opened the lid and waved the steam in our direction.. so we could get a whiff and buy sweetcorn.. he did that to all passers-by. it made us laugh.. we passed him by once again that day and it happened again.. and we laughed again. to this day we fondly remember that incident.

Apr 23rd: when we visited pune a year after we got married, bobo's dad took me and bobo out to dagdusheth ganapati temple. He then bought us sugarcane juice and we walked through narrow lanes and turned into a small door that opened into the huge courtyard of Ram Mandir in Tulsibaug. It was a beautiful place and he showed us around. We had such a lovely time!

Apr 24th: this is a nice memory of tea times on weekends at bobo's tiny one bedroom house in doddenakundi. bobo had just one set of everything so just one glass. one of us had to drink chai in a steel dabba. we sat down on the kitchen floor.. everything was so good, so simple and so wholesome back then. 

Apr 25th: bobo's birthday today! we have known each other for 20 years now and married for 8!

Apr 26th: this is a fun memory from bobo's stay at another apartment.. one that's funny and a bit unsettling considering bobo lived by himself.. early one morning, his doorbell rang.. when he opened the door, a maid rushed in and started cleaning his house.. before quickly realising she had the wrong floor. a quick apology later she disappeared and bobo was left with a few heartbeats missing. 

Apr 27th: this is a beautiful memory from when i visited bobo in hongkong.. every morning i would make tea from the tea-bags he had... he would go down to a bakery and buy danish pastries.. we would enjoy the tea and pastries before he left for work.

Apr 28th: on the two weekends i stayed there, bobo and i hung out to go visit lantau.. and the aquarium on a hill. it was proper fun hanging out with bobo and having him show me around.

Apr 29th: there was a security lady in bobo's building and i used to see her around most days.. she'd call me the lift and once told me that i was very pretty... that was nice!

Apr 30th: bobo's tiny apartment had a single window that opened to the view of the sea.. and we could see a lot of ships and boats any time of the day.. while it was beautiful, it used to be pretty hazy.. so the views weren't that clear.. the night time lights were amazing! this window was also where we had to hang our clothes to dry