It's again resolution time for me. This time it's about 2 things - getting up early every day and putting in atleast 30 mins of exercise each day. So, yesterday night I walked for 3-kms which had me all sweaty and pumped up. Had a cool shower and hit the bed, with the alarm set to 6AM.
Ofcourse, after hitting snooze umpteen times, I finally drag myself out of bed today at 7AM. I fix myself a cup of steaming hot tea, before proceeding to do some mild exercise aimed at the abs - while I would love to have a 6-pack, I would be more than happy with a no-paunch look itself. A quick shower and I am ready for work.
As I ride the bike to work, I can feel the pleasant day. The sun is missing and a cool breeze is blowing - there could be no better day to bike to work. Am reminded of the days I spent in Belgium during November when the days there would be like this and it felt the same as I felt walking to the bus-stop near my hotel in Ghent to catch the bus to work.
Enroute, while crossing the Kotturpuram bridge, I can see rowers practicing in the yucky waters of the Cooum below. I have been taking this route to work for almost all my working life and whenever I see rowers there, I can't help pitying them for having to bear with the unbearable stench of the muck-filled waters, all for the sake of a sport which they love.
Rowing happens to be one of my favourite hobbies & I remember the fun rowing sessions I had on my friend's 1-man fishing canoe (called kodhumbu-vallam in local parlance) in the Achenkoil river near my home. One of my dreams (mine are all small dreams) is to buy a small wooden canoe in Kerala and have a dock made (like the ones you see abroad) at the river-side land we have in Kerala. Hopefully one day soon.
Since I left early, traffic is sparse & in around 30mins I am at Madhya-Kailas signal. My usual route to work involves taking a right-turn onto the IT corridor. But today I have some stuff to be done at one of my favourite banks (SBT) located in one of the best localities of Chennai (Adyar).
I know there is no chance of my settling down in Chennai, but if due to some twist of fate it ever happens, I would stay at Adyar. Even if it means paying through my nose for a residence there. Apart from being a nice, green residential locality with good schools, bus/train connectivity etc, there are lots of memories and quite a few firsts associated with Adyar for me. My first job was at Adyar, my first salary account, my first savings, my first bike and some more firsts that I dare not mention here. :-)
As I wait for the signal at Ambica-Appalam junction to turn green, I look around at the neighborhood where I spent 3 years and more. The first thing to hit me is that the oddly named Mallu restaurant "Traffic Jam", where I used to have lunch for years, is no longer there. It has been demolished & some other structure is coming up there. Also missing is 'Tawau" another oddly named tea-shop, where I have spent many evenings with friends over hot tea and cigarettes.
I take the right-turn into Kasturba Nagar & reach the SBT branch. It has been at the same building for as long as I can remember, just that it would keep shifting between the ground and first floors of the building. SBT is a Kerala-based bank and most of the staff are either Malayalees or Palakkad brahmins. But what endears me to the bank is the service that comes with a smile and is also quick & efficient. And this time too it is no different.
It is just about 9AM when I reached the bank and since they start at 9AM, the staff is just coming in. The manager is there and another lady manning the teller. I need to make a cash deposit and approach the teller. She is courteous (as expected) and talks to me in the TamBrahm accent, which is not really odd, given that the staff composition is as I mentioned earlier.
"Kaasu kudungo ."
// Please give the cash to be deposited.
I handover the cash.
"Account number correct thaane ? Passbook kudungo"
// Is the a/c number correct ? Let me confirm with the passbook.
I tell her that the a/c number is correct and handover the passbook. Also tell her that there is a possibility that my account has been marked dormant, as I have not operated it for a long time.
"Appa-po oru nooru roopa ATM-le edutha, account active-a irukkum"
// Once-in-a-while withdraw 100 bucks from the ATM to keep account active.
I tell her that since my office is far from the bank, I find it tough to operate it and also I don't have an ATM card for this account (never needed one for this account).
"Office-kku late aacho ungalukku?"
// Is it getting late for you to get to work ?
I tell her that it is OK.
"Passbook naalaikku vangikkrela ? Yenna software change pannittu irukka".
//Mind collecting the passbook tomorrow as the banking s/w is being updated ?
I tell her that it is OK and handover the passbook. She returns me the counterfoil for the cash I deposited. I thank her and move on to the manager.
While I can live without an ATM card, I find it tough to operate without netbanking. I collect a netbanking application from the manager, fill it and hand it over. I am expecting to be told that the username/password would be mailed to my home in a week or so. But, am surprised when the manager tells me that if I can wait a few minutes, I can collect it. Just that it will take 24 hours for the account to be activated - I can live with that.
In less than 5 minutes, I am given the netbanking credentials. Now that I have access to my account over the internet, it does not really matter whether the passbook is updated or not, because I can see the account info anytime from anywhere. So no point getting the passbook updated and coming over another day just to collect it.
I walk back to the teller. There are 2 guys in front of me and the same lady who handled my cash-deposit is getting their transactions done. One of them wants to get a cheque encashed & the other guy has cash to deposit. As I await my turn, I notice her talking to the guy with the cheque - she asks him to sign on the reverse of the cheque and also to write his phone number there. What surprises me is that she is talking in normal Tamil - not the TamBrahm tamil she talked with me.
After encashing the cheque, she takes up the next transaction and asks the guy to give the cash and passbook. Also tells him that he will get the passbook only the next day, as the s/w is being updated. Again all this is in normal Chennai Tamil.
And then she sees me standing behind this guy and asks,
"Enna wait pannindu irukkel?" // What are you waiting for ?
I am surprised that she has immediately switched back to TamBrahm tamil with me. I tell her that I have just applied & got netbanking access and so will get the passbook updated some time later.
She says, "OK. Irungo, tharen. Paeru Biju thaane ?" //OK, the name is Biju, right?
I nod my head in assent and she hands over my passbook.
I thank her and move out, surprised that she chose to talk to me in TamBrahm tamil. If she thought I am TamBrahm, this would be the first time this has happened. I have been mistaken for a SriLankan (by some SriLankan co-passengers at Frankfurt) and as a Muslim (by a hotel employee in Serbia) and ofcourse as a Tamilian by most of my colleagues who assume so from my flawless (or so I would love to believe) Tamil. But this has to be the first time and I am not complaining. :-)
Another thing that struck me was the ease with which she was shifting between normal Tamil and TamBrahm tamil. I can juggle at least 4 languages with ease and understand a couple more, but I don't think I would be able to switch so effortlessly between two variants of the same language. Awesome indeed.
I exit the bank satisfied that my work was done quickly and the pleasant weather makes it a hoot to ride to work. Hope it stays this way all day.
