Just another day in the life of a hungry young man!!!

It’s way past dinner time an my stomach started growling so as to say come on u idiot don make me shout again eat...eat...and i start my long walk home as it is another half an hour for my bus and i just cant wait that long(Dude where's my Car....no not the movie but my ZEN....), then i think how about going an having a dosai or a plate of idli sambar at "Mathura" or a bowl of fruit salad at the "ABN pantry"... i start thinking i would do exactly that...i start strolling...i could almost smell the parata kurma from "Sarmani"...the chit chat of the people waiting for the movie to start at jayapradha right opposite to raheja...cars honking continuously...the autowallas flocking...an wondering what movie is running i step out on to the road...when my mind suddenly changes....its been long since i have had kara dosai at saravana bhavan why not that today....of course 50rs but i was hungry for the dosai now so i had already made up my mind...

i start walking a bit faster...could almost see the dosai inviting me...i cross woodlands where the night show of "nadu kadal thigil" (Deep Blue Sea for all who din get what that movie was!!!) is running houseful would be funny to see Samuel L Jackson an co speak Tamil wouldn't it...."odunga adu nammala thinga pogudu"...laughing to myself i continue "in pursuit of kara dosai"(get the drift..."in pursuit of happiness")...

A mad dash across the road when the signal is green...an the frustrated uncle with all the love an affection enquires whether i told my parents an came("Vetla solitu vantiyaa"), ignoring as ever i push on...enjoying the ever so elegant interior decor of JVM...an wondering why Pilot always shows movies which you just have to watch with your family (again get the pun....pilot jus does not show movies which you can call family entertainers ever wondered why!!!)i reach the bridge....a good quick jog an i see people standing outside NIIT- the dating center oops the computer center...where everyone comes just for learning computer....precisely why i went there...

The end was in sight...the home stretch...i could feel it...my goal...there in the distance...round the corner to the left was saravana bhavan...where a tasty crispy hot buttery kara dosai was waiting...cant wait any longer i start running...for a moment i turn an look whether the trusty hutch network is following or not...why hutch when i got an airtel connection!!! am refering to the doggie...get it??? where ever you go it follows...not the connection but the man's best friend...

5 minutes later, finally stopping when my legs could run no more,gasping for my breath, i look up and find myself standing in front of the brightly lit...ever crowded...saravana bhavan...The setting couldnt be better...The road lit up with the sodium vapor lights, the mada veethi buzzing with action, as shoppers and shopkeepers each trying to bargain their way into a deal...the shoppers for a few more pieces of inji and kothamalli and the shopkeeper for a few extra ruppes...is music to the ears.

The aroma of the sambar and the masala paal fills the air...my eyes open as wide as my mouth... as I stand outside Saravana Bhavan. the music of kunakudi's violin floats faintly in the background,I can’t wait to get my hands on the dosai. I can visualize amma bringing tumbler (not cup) full of filter coffee (not Folgers) to Appa who is already in front of the tv...a break from the computer(not laptop)... I influenced my mind to go home and then bring appa and amma to saravana bhavan...been a long time since we all came here...

this is when i am shaken out of my reverie by the strident noise of the microwave indicating that the frozen malai kofta that i had got for $2.99 and the Deep aaloo paratha for $3.99 that i got from R.K grocery is done and ready to eat....

I walk out the door to the entrance of my apartment complex, and all I see is an empty road and pin drop silence,occasionally broken by a car whizzing past at break neck speed every now and then, or a bunch of guys jogging with jarring music on their ipods...

thinking again...the life half way across the globe...as they say the grass is always greener on the other side....am happy...am having fun...am enjoying my life...but there is heart inside me which just can’t wait to go back to the place where i grew up...the place called HOME....