Long Weekend!!

Festivals, be it religious or regional, we, the people of India are always known to celebrate them in the grandest possible manner. People would go to the extent of planning their lives based on these festivals, like onathinuu grinder, pongalukku moped and new dress for the entire family for Ugadhi. Children would normally start celebrating these festivals, days before the actual festival day and thus spreading happiness and excitement among their family and friends.

In the recent years, we could see a different trend. The only thing which doesn't change is that we still start celebrating festivals 120 days in advance, thanks to the hue and cry in getting train tickets. Most of us don't get tickets and hence the festival day, when we used to play with our cousins and involve ourselves in heroic sports in villages is now a day to fight/curse our luck in getting a tatkal ticket for our return journey.Many people in Tamil Nadu sacrificed(thats how they call it) a greater part of Pongal celebrations last year on Jan 14th as they were slogging to get tickets booked on the opening day for Holi holidays in March. People now have to plan their travel for the harvest festival well before the seeds are sown in the field.

People have started forgetting why a particular festival is celebrated , in the above case, Holi. We only look at whether it is a Holiday and not if it is 'Holi' day. Our next focus after getting the required travel tickets is in knowing what movies are releasing for that festival both in cinemas and TV. Even if we are hearing the same voice crying out 'For the first time in Television or Prabanja tholai kaatchigalil mudhalmurayaga(India and world are already copyrighted with the voice :( ), we get excited. We get glued to the idiot box watching interviews of Tom,Dick and Harry on the festival days . I still remember one Diwali where there were no crackers in the evening as one of the channels was telecasting superstar movie. The crackers went off only during the half an hour news break in between.

We also see seasonal festivals being plucked from one part of the year and placed in some other parts for various reasons. We witness the same festival called by different names in different channels with some festivals still waiting to be accredited by few channels. But that doesn't matter as long as the channel telecasts how our favorite actress celebrates the festival.

In the midst of all these, festivals indeed matter for few private bus operarors and the alcohol industries. Both these sections get their maximum profit during festival times especially the alcohol sales scaling new peaks every festival. Looks like there will come a day, if not come already where we would have to stream a video in youtube to know what was Onam/Deepavali and how it was celebrated.After all, we the people who celebrate the festivals are seeing the festival holidays and weekends as ' looonng weekends ' and not a Pongal weekend or Holi weekend. 

A new Chapter!!

"It is almost 8! Where the hell is this moron?" , I thought. I was pacing up and down in the hall looking at the entrance and the hall alternately. Suddenly I heard the swish. "Phew! At last!" I ran to the doorstep to pick the weekly Adyar Times newspaper. I quickly flipped to the you-know-what page. Though I get this paper every weekend, I had never attached any significance to it till then, but it was different that week after my colleague informed that I could find lots of options matching my taste in the classifieds section of this paper. My choice to look in the newspaper classifieds might look old-fashioned. Initially I too started my hunt in the thousands of websites with photos and many other add on details. I expressed my interest to few of the ads which were matching my preferences and dialed the given contact numbers, but they were either already engaged or fake. Hence I had resorted to the newspaper option, as only genuine people would post their ads in classifieds by shelling a considerate sum.

I was quickly scanning through the categories and shortlisted one ad. "Could this be the one chosen for me by God?" With a sudden gush of excitement, I stood before the full size mirror, checking
my looks in the T-shirt and denim. Meanwhile, I picked my phone, dialed the number from the ad. I gave a brief intro about me and asked, " I saw your ad. I would like to know more details and any conditions so that I can come and meet you today morning itself, if all goes well". "Hmm. No problem in seeing. But 30K/month , 6 month advance Ok va?", came the reply.

" 30K rent for 2 bhk??". He replied "YES!". I saw my mouth wide open in the mirror. It looked as if my T-shirt and denims gave way to the 'famous costume' of Lord Muruga atop the Palani hills, signifying that I would also become an 'Aandi'(Pauper) like him if I agree to the rent. I thanked the guy in phone for his time before hanging up the call. " 30K aam 30K, for such a poor locality. Let's look for other options", I told myself. In reality, I was telling the age old phrase "Those grapes are sour".

After getting nothing but disappointment in the newspaper ads, I decided to jump in the field(road, in fact) to search for any To-Let boards in the nearby streets. After all, I had only a week to vacate my current residence, thanks to few hasty decisions. I roamed around for a couple of days in vain as I could not find any house with To-Let boards. All I could see were random 'Contact for Rent' numbers of real estate agents. After a tiring search, I stopped at a nearby kinara shop to have a bottle of paneer soda. I struck up a conversation with the shopkeeper and enquired if he knew of any houses for rent in that area. He smiled in response. Did that smile carry an ounce of mischief in it? He then handed me a chit carrying a mobile number and informed " If you want a house, you can reach this number " which was of a real-estate broker in that area. "At last, it has come to this!!", I thought.

With no other option before me, I called the guy. He introduced himself as Ramu.(Paer lam nalla than irukku) I told my requirements and how I got this number. He asked me to wait at the shop itself for 5 mins. He came and met me before I finished my paneer soda. "Enna speed??" He said "Sir! There are few houses with me matching your requirements. Let us go and see them. If you confirm one of them, my commission would be one month's rent!" I nodded my head in affirmative ( I had to) He then took me to the first in his list, an apartment nearby. The house was ok-ok for the rent and advance. We then met the house owner hoping to finalize the deal. Ramu whispered in my ears " I will handle the owner. You need not talk anything ". Then came the owner, a grumpy middle aged man. He scanned me from top to bottom. He then started inquiring about my history and geography. " So, you are a bachelor. Hmmm!That would be a problem. I have two daughters ", he added. I was confused and looked at Ramu. He tried to convince the owner with many a lies, one of them about my marriage next May and hence I wouldn't be single for long. I gasped at his bluffing talents, though I didn't like the idea of getting a house by telling lies. After all, why should I choose my spouse before May for some grumpy father of two ladies.

I went with Ramu to check the next options in his list. Some of them had high rents, there were other houses, which would require me to find the correct way to the house everyday through a maze of streets. There were few owners who actually conducted an interview to make me a tenant with a barrage of questions ranging from "How many girlfriends you have?" to "What gothra you belong to?". I even thought if I would have to complete a medical examination before taking up their house for rent.

It was almost a week in the search and I was not able to get an ideal home to shift to, thanks to various reasons. I was simply gazing at the frothing waves at the beach thinking how it had come to this at all. " Ennachu? It was raining, raining heavily. Water levels were raising. I was in knee deep water for three days in my house a?? Ok Ok! That shouldn't be a problem if I change the house before the next forecast in a week". I was still blaming my decision to inform my current house owner about vacating my home quickly.My cell vibrated at that instant. It was Ramu. "Sir! You are lucky. Jessie's house is available for rent." "Which Jessie?", I asked. " Jessie from the movie VTV. The ground floor house where Simbhu stayed is vacant now. Rent and advance are within your limits. You get the car porch also from where the hero jumped the gate on seeing Jessie for the first time. Who knows you may also meet your Jessie there sir!!", he told and asked me to come to the specified locality. "How about the water logging in that area, Ramu?", I asked. " If it rains very heavily only, we need to worry Sir. Otherwise there should not be a problem ".

I smelled something fishy in the last statement. I knew that the particular area was one of the worst affected in the last rains. But still my mind was telling me to take that house. If all goes well, I might not have to check the newspaper classifieds for a different reason in the future :P. I was still imagining myself in the scenes of the movie. I decided to tell 'yes' to that house and started walking to that area. And about the rains next week and the possible water logging in this area, " Do I still care? After all, who would say no to the backwater effect outside your house as in the movie after the rain?". After all, this would be another hasty decision in a hope to open a new chapter in my life.