Dil Hai Hindustani...

I did it! I found a Hindustani Vocal teacher finally and I've already finished two classes. I feel so good just by the fact that I've started something which I always wanted to do. There are 4 people in our batch and all of us are working(I'm supposed to be, very soon) so it's only on Saturdays and Sundays that we meet. Actually other three started at least 2 months ago and are somewhat familiar with the notes by now but I guess I can catch up.
I have to travel for one and a half hours to reach that place and yesterday I reached a little early. One of the guys was already there and practicing. It's so amusing how we always want to get to the roots of a person. He started asking me about myself - "what's your name?", "what do you do?" and next, "are you from Bangalore?". I could detect some 'pleasant surprise' in his eyes when I said "near Mangalore" so I thought he must have a connection. Next, "where in Mangalore?". Yes, he is basically from Kasaragod and all his relatives are in Manchi, the place I know. And obviously, the next question was about my mother tongue. I knew he wanted to know my caste. Yes, he is a Havyaka too. Next question was to know if he could speak to me in our dialect. "Are you a native of Mangalore?" When I replied that I wasn't, we continued the conversation in normal Kannada. He told me that many Havyakas come there to learn music but I couldn't guess a reason.
My date of joining the job has been getting postponed for a long time now and we are slightly worried. I don't know why I should be, though.

All in a Day's Work

Sitting at a Reliance Internet Cafe in Mangalore(which is as slow as BCR) and trying to organise my thoughts amidst the expletives being hurled at each other by some teenagers around. By the end of this, I'm sure to treat all these 'f' words as calmly as 'hi', 'hello'....

Soccer rules, even in my little place where half the people don't know how to spell it. There is a playground in front of the nearby school where evenings are generally reserved for cricket. But for some days now, cricketers are nowhere to be seen. Instead I see some guys trying to kick the football around. I wonder if the football-loving new sports teacher of the school brought this change about.

Just now realised that today I contributed some money to the illegal income of a KSRTC conductor. I boarded this luxury bus to Mangalore where the fare is Rs.20(double the ordinary-bus fare) and I didn't check the ticket. Now I see that the ticket says Rs.548! Actually there is a scheme by KSRTC that a ticket to Mangalore costs you less than that to BC Road whcih is 25 kms behind. So normally people end up taking a ticket to Mangalore. When such people get down at BCRoad, these conductors ask for their tickets and most of us end up giving it without asking why. (I know because I too gave mine once). So these guys trade those to the ones boarding at BC Road. So clever! I think the fault lies equally with us who give them the ticket without a thought.

The National Highway is full of potholes after it rained for a week. There was this guy in the bus sitting in front of me who used to wake up from his slumber everytime the bus jumped and look back at me as if I was responsible! It seems the minister has given a deadline of 72 hours to the department to make the roads alright. The problem is that they don't do a good job of it so the next time it rains, they'll be back to square one.

Helped two Telugu boys I met in the bus who had to go to Mangalore Port and didn't know how to. Suddenly reminded me of the times when we had to write all the 'oLLeya kelasa' ('good work') in a notebook daily. It was in 2nd and 3rd standards I guess. It was a compulsory thing and we had to write at least one per day. It used to be mostly helping a classmate like lending a pen or book and things like that but occasionally there would be specials - like helping some stranger with some directions or helping an old man to cross the road...We used to be quite happy when we came across such novel things. Today I couldn't help thinking that with the self-centred life that I'm leading these days, I hardly get to do any 'oLLeya kelasa' at all.