It was a hap hap happy birthday!

"Today is my birthday. I had a great day. " --> This used to be an oxymoron!! This year it isn't, and I can't believe it! All thanks to my little devil, and the bigger devil from above, my day was SUPER.

23 phone calls, 42 messages, 60 odd scraps in orkut & facebook... 9 people actually coming in to surprise me!! WHOAH... what more can someone ask for?!?! (Okay.. I know you are thinking I'm a weirdo.. giving you numbers and all.. but yea, I'm a weirdo, and proud of it :)

For a change, when people started calling to wish me, and asked "What plans for the day?", this time around I had an interesting answer. All thanks to Supri :-)

Jaya woke me up with a warm hug, Lawanya turned up, I went to the temple(Really?!), went to Periamma's house, and then off to Supri's. I was welcomed by Supri's wailings- "I called around 50 people Vedha... I hate your classmates... I'm so sorry... people backed off at the last moment... I even tried calling Jaya & Bhuvana... blah blah blah". Then people turned up. Not 50, but 9 people who decided to spend their time with me on my D-day :) Great fun we had. Mrudhula licking the cake even before I cut it, Supri using the mop like one 'soolayudham' and posing for pictures, talking CRAP, teasing everybody around, us getting to figure out if the juniors have boyfriends, having a cake facial :p it all looked to me like it was a scene fresh out of a fairy tale!

Then, off to Radio One, where I was again tortured by Jagan(as usual!) to make me dance the 'Egypt Rani' step (Enna koduma sir idhu!) with Nandhini and Rajiv egging on & Mrudhula, Shilpa and Supri laughing their heads off. Some entertainment! After we got done there, when the 4 of us were thinking where to go hog, Supri & I decided the time has FINALLY arrived to discover JC's Cafe! *tada tadain* What a place! (Tip: If you are looking for some place, where NOBODY you know would turn up, try JC's Cafe!) We were the only people in, apart from a few foreigners who were in another room. We hogged (Shilpa resisting temptation in vain!) like hell. Then, when it was the time to say the 3 bad words ('Pay the bill'), Jee-boom-ba, John(notice Pink sattai in picture) calls Mrudhula and asks her where we are. (He drinks juice at JC's regularly!) He came up to JC's with 2 other people, drank watermelon juice, and paid my bill :-) :D Lucky me! lol.

I finally came back home around 8, after Supri dropped me at the bus stand as usual. Went straight to Bhuvana's house, met the family and then got back home. Mum and dad were okay with whatever I got and except for the usual "I dunno why people spend so much money to get birthday gifts" dialogue(which is perfectly normal...), I didn't get anything hostile, which is like 'wow!'.

For all the people who made my day special, Thank you! trust me, you don't even have the wildest idea how much this means to me. And for the person, who scripted this day from above, just a 'miss you' wouldn't convey everything.

PS: Picture courtesy - Nithi in Orkut

You made me remember the good times
When i could only remember the bad
You promised me a return
Of the peace i long ago had
You never left me alone
When that was what i wrongly thought i needed
You never dwelt on my faults
Instead you pointed out when i had succeeded
You made me laugh
When i felt i would cry
You made me live
When i wished to die.

Another day of the year

Today is Deepavali, festival of lights, synonymous with crackers, sweets, get togethers and much more. But for a few people, this day is just another day of the year, maybe even one of the hectic work days of the year! The பால்காரன், who distributes milk packets early in the morning, the newspaper boys (When Bhuvana's dad gave him some diwali bonus, his face shone soo brightly!), the Neel Metal Fanalca people, fire-men who keep a watchful eye for diwali accidents and of course, people who simply couldn't afford festivities... for these people, life just goes on, Diwali or No Diwali. So if you are one of the lucky few who got a holiday, stayed at home watching TV, burst crackers, ate பக்ஷணம், and enjoyed a happy day... WOW! you are probably luckier than thousands of people who didn't, couldn't enjoy this day as you did!

I was one of the luckier few. But it is just that this year, we gave a big no-no to celebration. But yes, Diwali is Diwali and the spirit is infectious. I ate the fat jamuns, ribbon pakkoda and thenga burfi Amma made, along with the Ladoos, Burfis and kara-muras from the neighborhood (advantage Rajeswari Street!) and just watched all the kids having fun with the *tapas*. I also did my usual Diwali routine of going to the terrace in the night and watched the 8-directioned colorful fireworks display. Happys Endings.

Meeting my ooold friend!

Yesterday was really a wonder sunday. I went to Radiance's album launch, and then when I came back home, my OLD friend, who was my neighbour from say when I was 5-10 had come home! Mani is now doing his Civil Engg in NIT, Trichy and he had come home for Diwali, and this time, made it a point to visit me. He is just a year younger than me, but he always called me 'Prashanthi Akka' (ok yea.. new info for you, I'm called Prashanthi at home) and yesterday he claimed that he never found a better friend after me. What more could you ask for! He was patiently waiting for me to get back home, and stayed here for about 2 hours, and left only by 11 o' clock in the night, when my dad courteously told him all of us will have to wake up early for Diwali ;) Friends are forever, really!

Radiance- Spreading light!

Damn... Supri beat me to this by 34 minutes!! I was just going to write this, and I see her post smirking at me!

One Sunday evening, PROPERLY spent, seriously! My sundays are usually filled with absolute vettiness, with me having nothing to do except, say, watch a movie, or catch up on some sleep. But this sunday, well, it was different.

Two days ago, in the marshy lanes of Madhavaram (well, if you don't know where Madhavaram is, go hang yourself or drop in to Perambur, I'll take you there!), when I was going to visit my junior Divya's house, I get a call.

Hi.. I'm Gayathri, Sukanya's van mate, u remember me?

oh well.. hi gayathri, yea, of course i remember u.. tell me

are u free on sunday? we have a program, and i want u to... wait...

*lots of background noise*

hi vedha.. this is sumana... mrudhula's friend... there's a show on sunday that i want u to host..

(trying to figure out who sumana is...and completely confused) ok.. i guess i can do it. wat show? can u give me details?

*lots of background noise again*

hi... im jayanth

oh.. hi jayanth

see.. there is this album that we're releasing.. well, hey can u come over to my place, so i can tell u details?
well.. im in a place called madhavaram, and i'm pretty sure you don't even know where it is..

well, no i dont..

yea, it is chennai outskirts, and im out here.. so i cant come now.. maybe you could e-mail me the stuff?

ya, ok, sure.. take down my no...u can probably send ur e-mail id in there..

And, the rest, as they say, is history. Jayanth got stuck in traffic the whole day, and the MS Phone idea he had, didn't work, cuz I slept off really early that day, and so the next day, I, dragging Supri(as usual!) went upto his place(Thank Heavens to Kowshik! who overwhelmed us with his hospitality.. ), ate பாதுஷா, கை முறுக்கு and தேன்குழல்(thanks to Jayanth's mom, who probably understood our hunger pang!), and listened to their amazing tracks! (More from the composer here: http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?songs=630013&T=7049 )

Radiance(I love the name!) is a band of 10 or 12 people(Please confirm with Jayanth! :) who have come together to create a music album for the orphanage Anbu Karangal (http://www.anbukarangal.org/). The proceeds from the sale of the album, goes to the orphanage. Amazing, don't ya think?

The band consists of a few ex-MOPians, and men from Sai Ram engg, among other people. But, it was not just a band of 12 people. SOO many friends lent a helping hand and the parents gave in their full support, their colleges sponsored the event, people like Chinmayi and M.K. Balaji sang for the album... It was such a collective effort, and I'm soo proud I could at least be a teeny weeny part of it. And, Supri played a big part in me being a part of it by being my official chauffeur(ok, it was only her Scooty Pep.. but yea..).

In the process, I finally found out who Sumana is (Eureka!), got to see Gayathri in a saree, got bored to death by Mr. Chairman of Sai Ram Engg(See: Annexure I), and got scolded from a guy("போடி நாயே!") who I've only known for a day! I made quite a few new friends, and got to know more about old college acquaintances, and MOST important, I could be myself after a long time!, so all in all, a day well spent!!!! (only regret being lots of guys calling me, அக்கா! என்ன கொடுமை சார் இது! )

ANNEXURE I:

Questions posed by Mr. Chairman
(Through the ENTIRE conversation, Mr. EEE HOD kept nodding his head!)

1. What are the FM stations in Chennai, apart from AIR?

2. Do you think it is commerically viable for us to start a FM station? We want to spread education

3. Community Radio எல்லாம் சரிப்பட்டு வராது... இந்த Mirchi, Suryan மாதிரி ஏதாவது பண்லாமா?

4. நீ Jaya TV ல வர மாதிரி, சில விஷயம் எல்லாம் சொன்ன. எனக்கு ரொம்ப நாளா ஒரு சந்தேகம், Gulf countries ல 25 countries இருக்கு, அவங்க population ஏ 5 crore தான். *Vedha desparately searches for someone to rescue her at this point, but in vain!*ஆனா, அவங்களுக்கு, தனி கொடி இருக்கு... but நாம 61/2 கோடி பேர், நமக்கு ஏன் கோடி இல்ல? தலைவர் பிரபாகரன்(Note: It is the LTTE leader) கு மறைமுகமா ஒரு letter போடணும்! இந்த gulf countries பேரு எல்லாம், எனக்கு தேடி தரியா மா? ஜெயந்த் கிட்ட கொடுத்து அனுப்பு!