When Music Becomes Noise

‘Oh No! Hope it’s not the same call again.’ I whispered and ran to my room to check the mobile phone. It was singing aloud the tunes of ‘Sarvam’, a Tamil movie. I was too irritated to hear this ringtone again. I put my phone on the silent mode for the moment and let it vibrate for the next 11 calls, nevertheless I didn’t answer one. My next target was to browse for a blank ring tone and I didn’t succeed. Finally when the vibration stopped for a while, and when I was sure I will not receive more of these calls, I browsed the phone for another ringtone. After changing the ringtone, I put the phone back on normal mode.

I am a very poor user of the phone and hardly get calls other than the ones from whom I am very closely acquainted with. It served me more as walkman than a phone. Considering the above facts, it’s vague that I was irritated by the ringtone. Moreover, the mentioned ringtone was set as the default ringtone and there is not much a chance that it is played, as there are specific ringtones set for these closely acquainted people.

Now coming to circumstances, I received about 6 missed calls from a mysterious number the previous evening and I was unable to trace the number. While I was pondering on who that desperate person was, I received a call from the same number. As expected, it was a ‘wrong number’. I attended the call and notified the caller that it was a wrong number they were trying to reach. But to my surprise the calls continued and within an hour it was about another 5 missed calls. You know how it is to hear the same 21 second long ringtone 12 times in an hour.

But this was not all. Early today morning it was about 5.30 AM, the phone rang again, the same number flashing and yet again playing the same ringtone. I cut the call. It rang again and this time I picked it up and in a drowsy voice requested the caller not to try the wrong number again, but with no effect. The calls continued for the next hour and half (yet another 10 missed calls), the result being my sleep disturbed or destroyed rather.

Now as I write this post, I hope the caller gets his number right and I don’t get disturbed from my sleep on a weekend. Else I will have to look for another ringtone again tomorrow evening.

Just a count: I received 35 (11 + 10 + 10 = 31 missed + 4 answered) calls from that number.

Games Sweet Games

Few days back, we were returning home after watching a movie and suddenly a conversation picked up about the games we played in our childhood. From then on I have been putting up a list in my mind.

Chogi:

All you need is 4 small sea shells and it will keep you engaged for hours together. My aunt was the mentor. The game begins with rolling the 4 shells (like rolling dice) and you are eligible to start playing once all the four shells land on the floor facing upward or downward uniformly. Once you find the luck, you can start tossing the four shells in the air and try catching them using the back side of your hand and then drop them on the floor positioning them in a certain manner to grab points.

Aggravation:

This is an advanced version of Ludo, almost the same rules, but the board is bigger and 6 players can play at a time.

Brainvita:

A board and 44 marbles, you can spend hours alone. Start by jumping one marble over the other and remove the later. The aim of the game is to reach at one marble by jumping and removing.


Tell Me Quiz

Quizzing Game. Take turns to draw a quiz card and spin the alphabet wheel. Answer the given question in a single word starting with the lucky alphabet.

Scrabble:

Crossword game, build words on the board and grab points for each alphabet. The rarer of the alphabets you use, the higher points you score. Luck matters when you pick your alphabets and you can have only seven alphabets at a time.

Business/Moneyply/Monopoly/Trade:

Trading game, where you buy and sell places as such. It’s such fun when you know you own Darjeeling, Mumbai (Business) or Miami Beach (Moneyply). Another such game, I can recollect playing was ‘Barbie Goes shopping’ where you purchase household furniture to set up the house for your Barbie.

Dark Room

Get into a dark room and hide under the tables, behind the curtains or beneath the cot or choose a corner for yourself. Once ready, call the seeker into the pitch dark room. He’s got to find and identify you in the dark.

Memory:

It’s a pack of 56 pairs of square picture cards. Shuffle them and lay them on the floor facing down. In turns, pick up 2 cards at a time; if they match they are yours, else place them back. Every time you get a pair, you play an extra chance. At the end the player who grabs the maximum number of pairs is the winner.

King, Queen & Robber

It’s a game for 5-6 people - King, queen, Jack, Minister, Police and robber. Write each one of these on a piece of paper and shuffle the lot. Each picks a piece and keeps his role a secret except for the King. The King has to find the Queen. If he’s right he gets full points. If he’s wrong, he’s got to exchange the chit. This way the queen finds the Jack, then the minister and so on.

Book Cricket

All you need is a school text book and a plain sheet of paper. The batsman opens the book randomly and the score is based on the last digit of the even page number. It’s up to you to decide the number of balls or the form of game.

Uno Cards

It’s a pack of cards (similar to the playing cards, 4 colours, Each colour contains numbers 0-9, colour change, +4, +2, skip and reverse.) It’s one game that keeps you engaged for hours together. Shuffle the cards and distribute 7 cards to each player. One player plays a card, the next one has to play a card that has the same number or the same colour else he has to skip his turn after drawing an extra card. The player who gets rid of his cards the earliest is the winner.

Trump Cards

It’s yet another pack of cards. Each card contains a photograph of a WWF champion, with some statistics like his ranking, weight, height, biceps, etc...Shuffle and distribute the cards among the players. Each player plays one card at a time and compares the statistics with the other players’ cards. The player with the card that has the best statistics gets all the cards.

It used to be real fun when we as kids used to gather a gang at home decide on a game (sometimes it takes hours) and sit together around the board and play. Parents used to keep us fed with snacks and beverages at regular intervals. Purchasing new indoor games was the first activity we do when school closes for summer holidays. Indoor games used to be our way to keep us engaged for the 2 month span by passing the heat.

Now are the days when most of these are available as flash games or executable programs and the kids are getting used to playing games with the computer all alone at home.

Gone Are Those Days

Gone Are Those Days
When I sat beside you
Listening to the tit bit jokes
You read from the weekly.

Gone Are Those Days
When you gave me all I wanted
As surprise gifts all the time
You never let me ask

Gone Are Those Days
When you gifted us
With the best games to play
On the last day of school

Gone Are those Days
When you drew the patterns
On the floor for us
Only to fill up with flowers and colours

Gone Are Those Days
When you consoled me
After every concert
I didn’t do well, though

Gone Are Those Days
When you treated my pals
With your best dishes
Any chance didn’t you miss.

Gone Are Those Days
When you made my dress collection
It was time for me to leave school
Only to see me a budding graduate

Gone Are Those Days
When you got me to perform on stage
Standing behind the curtains
It was all your effort, you rejoiced yet

Gone Are Those Days
When you celebrated
Every Milestone I reached
With all the pride in the world

Gone Are Those Days
When we spent every moment
Merry and Happy
Will I treasure these all my life

Now Are These Days
When I cherish our every moment
With a smile lighting my face
Heaviness befalls my heart though

p.s: It’s seven years since she bid adieu, but What I am today is all what she did to me. Dedicated to my beloved Mother.

Independence Day Celebrated!!!

Gone are the days when Independence Day was celebrated by hoisting the flag and distributing sweets with rendering of patriotic songs. TV programmes have taken over and Independence Day is more considered as a day off from regular work or an opportunity to earn more through overtime wages.

The last time I really witnessed flag hoisting live was during my last year in school. As any other day, we used to assemble at school dressed in our ironed uniforms to salute the flag and sing the National Anthem. Patriotic songs, mass drill and March past used to be part of the honour. Sweet distribution would follow after which we would disburse to allow the TV programmes to take over for the rest of the day.

This year Independence day falling on a Saturday, it’s a holiday here. On the previous eve, there was a dinner get together organized by the employees of a corporate company on the pretext of the occasion. The dress code was decided as ‘Kurta and Jeans’ to depict Indian culture and there was almost 70% compliance. The other 30% constituted more of other nationals. ‘Bindhis’ were distributed at the venue (But I already had one on my forehead!!!). Inspite of all these, to me, it looked like just another dinner with music on a Friday night with no relevance to the spirit of the occasion. There were spot prizes, music and dance, dinner and desert which made the occasion look more westernised.

But amidst all this pub culture, there was a little ‘Indianism’ evidently shown when all the Indians stood in attention when the national anthem was played at midnight sharp. At the same time, the Indian flag was put up from somewhere. I gave a proud grin, when the other nationals seated at the adjoining table stood up saluting the Indian flag along with us. I sang the National Anthem with all my heart and a light sense of satisfaction flashed over.

It’s Weird Sometimes

‘Hurry up, Swathu, getting late’. That was my dad and he had come to see me off at the airport. My aunt and cousin had already finished their formalities and had passed the gate, ready to board. The terminal building was pitch dark and the surroundings seemed to be really sickening. As I proceeded to the immigration desk, I found four Tamilian ladies. The second lady in the row asked me for my passbook. I handed it over and she examined my photograph, then asked me again, ‘Where is your passbook?’ I gazed at her dumbfounded. She pointed to the photograph and told me the photograph was not acceptable. It was one taken during my school days. I tried arguing, but in vain. Aware that I had not much time, I pleaded to the lady near her. The lady winked at me and indicated to me to hide below the desk while she would stamp the passbook and drop it down. I obeyed her instructions, picked up my passbook and sneaked away just as the other lady caught a glimpse of me. I moved towards the gate to board the flight.

What I saw last was a crazy mob chasing me, when I jerked and woke up only to hear the laptop beside me still singing one of the tunes of A.R Rahman’s album. I got out of my bed, turned off the music and went back intending to sleep, but ended up analysing my dream. It was one of the weirdest dreams I have come across.

1. I am just back from a vacation and have no intention of travelling at least for the next six months.
2. My dad could not have seen me off from here. He would have received me at the destination.
3. I never ever can imagine that aunt and cousin of mine travelling in the flight as mine. They are stationed elsewhere.
4. The terminal building here is never pitch dark. It’s well lit up, for that matter at any time of the day.
5. I never knew or heard about any airport, where the immigration authorities asked for a passbook instead of a passport.
6. I completed (tried to) my immigration without check-in. Throughout the run, I never knew where my tickets were.
7. I hardly remember carrying any baggage, save for the laptop bag that slung across my shoulder. In reality this was near to impossible. At least I would be carrying a small travel bag.
8. The funniest part was having seen four Tamilian ladies in a row at the immigration counter of an international airport in a gulf country.
9. The way the passbook was stamped, hiding and running through the gate, would have been the most adventurous act I would have performed in all my future births to come.

The only thing I could relate to reality is the ‘Photograph’. My passport contains a photograph in which I have posed in my school uniform and normally, I encounter a question or two at the airport check-in counter or the immigration, be it in India or outside.

And regarding the terminal building, it was very different from the actual terminal building. I can recollect I have seen this kind of building earlier in one of my dreams. It was somewhat related to flying, but I can hardly remember the sequence of events.

I have heard that dreams are a result of your imagination and wishes. But this is one of the weirdest ones I have dreamt off.

Vacation Fever

Being severely affected by the vacation fever for the past few months, am slowly recovering to write this post. The attack was scheduled only for three weeks, but the symptoms existed for quite a long time before that.
Since the time I left my country, vacations play an important role in my life. It’s the big factor that keeps you going for the rest of the year. Below is the sequence of events involved in implementing a successful vacation.
1. Decide on the dates; let others at work know about it so that there are no clashes. This is normally done at the beginning of the year, when leave balances are credited.
2. Search for tickets; Login to all the websites and check out the different flights, routes and cost and book the tickets. Lesser the choice it’s easier. This step is time consuming with a huge number of airlines providing too many flights and routes; the cost varying based on the route and time. To worsen things here, all of a sudden you will find all flights are being filled like crazy in a day’s or may be even an hour’s time. Finally you land up booking the tickets based on availability. This step is normally done at least 2-3 months before.
3. Time to start shopping; Think of every person in the other part of the world and decide and shop the suitable things. Of course not to forget yourself, shop whatever you haven’t done for the past many days.
4. Inform your buddies about your trip; just thinking of a possibility of meeting up.
5. Time to think about official submission of the leave application; Now you may have to slog to avoid rejection of the application. Try to achieve near to impossible in the next one month if you got to get things right.
6. Roughly plan the trip; the visits, the movies to be watched, the malls to be visited, the pleasure trips to be arranged, the shopping to be done and what not. Everything is on the list and at this point of time it seems possible to do all this in the scheduled 3 weeks.
7. Now you are almost done with the near to impossible target, so submit the leave papers officially, praying for the right things to happen. Yes and finally it’s done.
8. Dust out your suitcases, empty the contents and dump them somewhere and start packing; Fear of excess baggage prevails until everything fits in and the baggage is weighed and checked.
Out of sheer excitement, it’s difficult to get a glimpse of sleep for at least a week before you travel. Then the big day comes, when you leave home with the luggage and your heart beats faster when you reach the airport. Flying seems to be really interesting.
Now landing at the destination, the first thought is about the return journey which will start from the same point. The time starts flying from this point and in no time you are back at the same place to board the flight for the return. This journey normally seems like a never ending one and sleeping during the entire flight becomes the only solution.
All is not over yet. Cleaning, unpacking, sharing experience and photographs continue for at least a week. Now Gear up, you got to get back to normalcy. And yes start planning for the next vacation.

The ‘Dave’ Days

I have never been crazy after video games or computer games during my entire life. Yes I love to play a few small games. PacMan has been my favorite for quite some time now. I have heard my bro talk about counter strike where they do heavy setup at home connecting n number of comps and laptops. I have the least idea what the game is all about, I can guess from the name though. Am sure that in no way can it be compared to the flash games I play.

The first time, I can recollect having played video games was when my uncle gifted us with a video game console with 2 joysticks. It was supposed to have 1000 games built in (I doubt it). The package used to lie in the shaft at home through out the year. We used to dust it out and connect it to the television set during our summer vacation. (Used to imagine ourselves as great techies at that time) There were a couple of games similar to PacMan and all kind of sports (football, tennis, racing, etc ...). Most of the games were shoot out games and there was one or two related to spellings.

Then came the computer days. We always had a computer at home, though unfortunately, we couldn’t use it that efficiently (for playing games). Initially we had a lower configuration comp (upgraded from MS-DOS) that wouldn’t survive if we loaded games on it. It was used to type out question papers rather (no better than a typewriter). Inspite of all these restrictions, we managed to play ‘Dave’, spending hours during the night. This game seemed to have impressed us so much that we normally ended up fighting for the comp often. Later we gave up the comp as my dad had arranged to get another one for his business use and the idea of having two comps at home was not that appealing. We were thrilled about the new comp as it was supposed to be of a great configuration. At the end, we felt that the old one was better, as we were not allowed to install/play games or any other software for personal use. We used to keep ourselves satisfied with Solitaire or Minesweeper (I like this one also) and the ‘Dave’ days died off slowly.

After my college days, I never had a comp at my place of stay and so no more games (apart from the ones I used to play on my mobile phone to kill time) until I got my laptop a few months back. Two days back, I was browsing through my bro’s comp and was amused to find the ‘Dave’ game (I wouldn’t have even remembered the name if I hadn’t found it there). Since then I have played that game more than a dozen times and have already copied it to my Laptop as well. Now nothing can stop me from loading it to my laptop. After all it’s mine.