A casual drop in

Suppertime.

I had just loaded some food onto the plate when my cell phone rang. A distress call from my friend L. While she talked, I stuffed my face with food and then I talked..and so on it went for a significant amount of time. Must have been 30 mins at least.

See my front door consists of the main door and a storm door. I love having light streaming into the house, drenching every inch of space with its warmth and brightness. So when I get home, specially since the sun sets quite late these days, I only keep the storm door closed but never locked. Later in the evening, when the sun has set for the day, I go in and shut both doors and lock them for the night.

So where were we? Right- I had finished my meal and the phone call. I had a few minutes before heading to the gym. I turned on the TV for some mindless entertainment to while away those precious minutes that had been generously donated to my disposal. As the sounds of Friends began to waft in, I heard another sound. That of the storm door opening and closing.

Hmmmm..no one usually stops by my place on week days. I wasn't expecting any one either. The one person who might come by happens to be in India(and I am SO missing her). While these thoughts were twirling in my mind, I got up from my couch and headed towards the front door. The layout of my place is such. The family/sun room(where the TV resides) spills over to a small dining alcove which leads into the formal dining and further on to the formal living space. This terminates at the main door. So from the sun room I could see a figure at the landing. There stood an Asian boy, a teenager- probably 16 or 17 yrs of age. He looked cheerful with a sunny demeanor.

'Hi' I said as I moved another step closer to where he was. 'Hi' he responded and proceeded to slip his shoes off. I espied two bags of takeout food- probably Chick-FilA or some such, my mind wasn't registering much. He seemed like he was looking forward to digging into a nice hot meal at the earliest..

'Mmm gmmgh' he mumbled as I gazed quizzically at this apparition which appeared to move further and further into the house. He had crossed the living room and was almost at the formal dining space. So at that time I realized there was a stranger standing in the house, too inside for my comfort and safety. And I was almost at the same place too, treading carefully while a million thoughts as listed below were racing through my mind.

'What does one do in such a situation? Normal people DON'T have such situations you idiot!','Does he have something to hit me with?', 'Should I grab something heavy to hit him with?', 'Right, you're very well prepared- cos he might swing his arms and get you like RIGHT NOW!'.

'Hmm, looks like you're in the wrong house' I pointed out to him very gingerly. He looked around as if he couldn't tell if he was. Then he walked back to wear his shoes and as he opened the storm door to let himself out, he went 'Yes, I AM in the wrong house. Thanks for pointing this out and sorry about that.'

By now my heart was thumping so loudly I could barely hear what I said or replied. I could see him making a hasty retreat over to my neighbor's house.

Still in a daze, I randomly dialed L back just to be able to hear someone's voice. Since she lives in California and she'd mentioned as she hung up that she'd be driving back home- it was not surprising that she didn't answer her phone. I called another good friend and even though she was on the road too and couldn't talk much, just hearing her voice for a few minutes helped calm me down.

I broke into peals of laughter after I hung up. I can't imagine the embarrassment of the poor kid. And hours after this episode, I can now bring myself to wonder how he did not notice the insides of the house and realize he was not in the right place instantly?

What with an hour's worth of gym after this kind of excitement, I think its time I call it a day. Good night all you beautiful people or as my dear friend G would put it-'Shabba Khair'.

L board

Some snippets of chat conversations on a wintery, lazy Sunday evening

Act 1
Me : Hiya S, whatchu doing?

S : Hiya Alt, nothing much. Whats cooking?

Me : Oh, today I made bhindi masala and roti.

S : Oh! isn't that something you put on your forehead? Why/How do you make a dish out of it?

[Exactly 2 mins of mute, while my brain wheels turn and work overtime and finally a bulb goes off......now at this point if you, dear reader, tell me what is he talk about? Well, you'll know in a few seconds, cos I know this guy better than you do!]

Me : S! You astound me. Bhindi is okra you nincompoop, the one you are talking about is bindi. Bhindi is pronounced Bh-in-dee like Cindy, bindi is b-in-di as in [ahem well english doesnt have a dha-eqvt now, does it?]

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Act 2
Me : Hiya S, whats going on yo?

S : Nothing much girl. Whats going on with you?

Me : Me? Hm nothing much. Making pav bhaji for tonight's dinner.

S : Is this some dish with chicken legs?

Me : Hmmmm....

[Yes, you guessed right. More cranking of brain wheels, etc etc etc]

Me : S, you idiot! Pav is the bread that goes along with bhaji. Paanv means legs. Sheeesh!

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No kidding, but seriously S is NOT a non-desi. He's an ABCD, his parents are from Kerala and during the time these conversations are happening his new year's resolution happens to be to learn Hindi- thanks to Rosetta Stone!

Sigh!

Odd!

* Some THREE years ago, I used an online florist in Bangalore to send a bouquet to a friend, wishing him for his exams. So this morning I open my email and find this :

Dear Madam/Sir
auto-reminder.
Last year on ... you placed an order to be delivered to XYZ

To deliver again ,Please place the order online.
Thank you
Mrs ABC

Sender's Email Address : Altoid

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Occasion : Good Luck
Instructions : Please deliver by [date]
Card Message : Best wishes for the exam
Delivery Date (DD/MM/YYYY) : 26/02/2006

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recipient Name : XYZ
Care Of :
Recipient Address : [The entire address]
Recipient Country : India
Recipient Phone No. : [number]

Errrrrrrrrrrm, NOT EXACTLY last year!

Glitch in the system?

* I am woken up (albeit rudely) at 2am this morning by an SMS. The sender's number looks like a cell phone number in India. It reads thus :

'Best wishes on India's Republic Day. Jai Hind'- From the Krishnans

Now, I can recall no Krishnans that I know, at 2 in the morning nor now when I am fully awake and in my senses.

So either they got the recipient number wrong or I should remember the Krishnans which I am just unable to.

Oh! and Happy Republic Day folks!