Tagging Along... (My 8 little "Thank You"s)

I was thinking about 1001 different reasons not to write this blog as i thought that the idea was pretty lame. But after lotta chiding and severe criticism by Nasia (my tagger) I finally decided to pen down my eight little thank yous. There aint any particular order or priority as for that matter in the list below, am scribbling just as the words are getting outta the top floor window of my little body. But i have reserved my favourite "thank you" for the last slot.. ahem cough cough so here goes...

1) My Parents

My dear parents, i thank them for everything, for making me what i am today. I know that no words of gratitude from a child would suffice the love,care and hardships endured during parenthood (and thats why i thought this as a lame idea @ nasia). Hmm my dad, the person i respect the most in the universe. Whenever i think of him i get a mental picture of him sitting in the living room reading a fresh copy of "The Hindu" with a hot cup of tea strategically placed on the right side of the coffee table by amma. An engineer from the IISc, a person who easily commands respect from his subordinates but equally helpful to amma when it comes to cooking (he makes the best mutton curry in the whole world!!), housekeeping or raising the two brats (me and bro). And my sweet little amma, who can go on and on with her never ending conversations. Sweet but equally strict at times, more of a dear friend to me than a parent. If i find myself half as good a parent as u two were i would consider myself really lucky !!

2)The Guy Sitting Up There Somewhere

I thank God, first of all for making me a human being and not an ant, a roach or a mosquito. I aint much of a regular temple going guy... but i always have a belief that He resides somewhere inside me, always watching over my deeds. But most important of all i thank him for putting me under the care of my parents.... Look God i sincerely thanked you, so please make me a human in the next life too... WHAT?? only cats get to live nine lives...ah then why didnt you make me a cat in this life !!!!

3)My Grandparents

My very lovable grandparents, who took me in while i joined the engineering college in Trivandrum. They sternly objected to my staying in a hostel and took me in with them much to my relief plus the bonus i got in the form of granny's cooking.I was a stubborn teenager when i stayed with them but they never complained to my parents about my attitude (which i am quite sure i musta shown). My mouth still waters when i think of granny's bright red pickles,chakka varattiyathu (jackfruit jam) and payasams.

4)Daimler-Maybach

For my laymen readers, these are the dudes who invented the motorcycle. In the early 1900s these two german dudes had the weird idea of fitting a bicycle with an internal combustion engine and thus was born the motorcycle aka motorbike aka THE BIKE !! Time has passed by and since then the bike has evolved into a complex and amazing machine. If it werent for them much of the indians would still be on the bullock carts. And we would have had "Bullock Language" as part of the elementary school syllabus to learn the different bullock controlling commands like "Hurrrrr Hurrrrr" or the 349 other different chuckling sounds to be made to communicate with the bullocks.
For most indians a bike is just a piece of machine that takes them from point A to point B but for me its much more than that...

5)Chennai

I thank this city. I came here as a young man with not much knowledge about how life treats us. This city has made me a lot tougher and taught me a ton of how to lead an independent life. Living in a Metro is hard... the confusion, the traffic and no ones has got time for anybody. A perfect boot camp to train yourself for whatever challenges the life throws at you. I hate the salt water in the chennai water pipes though... ;-)

6)Mr Alexander Graham Bell

Hope i got the name right. I thank this dude for making the telephone... which i consider is the invention of the century !! If it werent for him humans would have had to breed pigeons like crazy and practise the "Kaboothar ja ja ja" song to send messages to their loved ones. There would be no Nokia, no Sony-Ericsson and no SMS and of course NO INTERNET AND THAT MEANS NO BLOGS EITHER. So this blog is the direct consequence of what Mr Bell did almost a century ago.
Mr Bell, thanks man for making this world a smaller place !!!

7)Internet

Who knew a network created by a bunch of techies for the US army would turn into something so important for an average man, that now i cannot even imagine a life without it. I thank the internet for geting me back in touch with my old pals of school. And for changing the paper mails to a beep on my desktop. So used we ve got to the net that the scene below aint tht rare across the country.

dude1: (types in a mail) hey dude lets go for a coffee
dude2:(flirting with his GF on his cell and misses the beep of new mail)muaaahh !!!
dude1:(restless for not getting a reply shoots another mail)MAN!! COFFEE???
dude2:(still on fone)muaaaaaah !! (this time a wet squealing sound)
dude1:(turns his head and this time verbally to dude2 sitting next to him)dude i sent u 2 mails !!
dude2:(verbally)oh!! is it?? lemme c...(checks and types back) 5 mins!!

8)My Pals

And last but certainly not the least, my pals. I had a little circle of friends in school, college and now where i am working. I am a nobody without them. An incomplete person... just 5 feet 8 inches of flesh and blood. What makes me a person are my friends. Whenever i am down on something i turn to this little friend circle of mine to seek refuge. I know that they ll be with me through the thick and thin of my life and so will i for them. Friendship i believe is not just an ordinary relationship, its somthing much more than that nurtured over trust, love and care.Its a bond forged in the strongest of fires.I thank all my dear pals from school, college and office for being with me there always. I dont have to mention the names... those reading this will know who they are. And as Phoebe rightly said "Boyfriends and girlfriends come and go but friends are for life!!!"