Parties,Madhu, and Dumb C!!!!

Well, HEELOOOOOOO friends and family,

I really appreciate those of you who take time to read my blog,and also let me know your comments.....There has been a lot going on recently, all of which I am bursting to share with you. However, I will commence by sharing the most recent happy incidents.....

Firstly, last weekend, we had a dinner invitation, pot luck, at my cousin's place. We met two new couples there...one of whom Madhu already knew from Salt Lake City, Utah.(Vijay and Meena). The other couple were my cousin's friends from the Sai Bhajan group.(Senthil and Lakshmi).. new to everybody else.

So dinner got over, and we all agreed to play Dumb Charades, movie names. Those who had been present at the Diwali party hosted by us, knew about Madhu's fantastic ability to figure out English movie names. So this time, it was decided to have Tamil. Since I am not that familiar with tamil movie names, I wasn't able to participate much. However, we had a blast. Girls vs. boys...and I should tell you..Balaji, a friend of ours, proved to be too good at guessing the correct tamil movie, and also managed to give the girls team some tough ones to crack.

With Madhu acting, and Balaji guessing, the guys were all about whooping war cries, shouts of victory,and hugging each other in every turn they got.

In the end, one of the ladies present, (I don't remember who...got lost in the general excitement), declared, "Next time, we play Dumb C, both Madhu and Balaji, should be excluded...They know too much!!!!!"
So, wasn't that a good game, worth pulling up my collar for??? :) :)

Then yesterday, Dec 21st, we all met again for Sruthi's birthday party..daughter of Muthu and Bala. It was a thoughtfully arranged pizza party, plus sodas,and some pasta ravioli. Turn American when you don't have time to cook up Indian fare!!!!!And with one baby to look after,putting up all decorations, balloons, cleaning, arranging, Bala certainly had her hands full. .
So anyway, the same group, this time, more comfortable around each other, more leg pulling, and stories got passed around. We found out Senthil's family was based in Pudukkottai. To top it off, Senthil's dad had been a manager in various branches of Indian Bank.( untill recently) So my connection, pudukkottai, Madhu's connection, Indian Bank.


So after the kids playing a round of pin-the tail- on -the -donkey, (in which Madhu also participated...he claims he is a BIG little kid), general confusion,and consensus decided that this time, Dumb C, would be a mixed group, girls and boys mixed teams, and similarly, both English and tamil movie names would be given. All odd numbers were in one team, all even numbers in another. Coincidentally, Madhu and I were in one team,having drawn odd numbers, and so were Uma and Balu anna, both having even numbers. Madhu was the only guy in our team....The team was like this,...Madhu, me, Anusha, Meena, and Lakshmi. The other side was, Senthil, Balu anna, Uma, Bala, and Muthu(again a couple).

Anusha's and Meena's husbands, Balaji and Vijay,resp, arrived a bit late. On being apprised of the situation, Balaji said, "I am on the team opposite to my wife's". When he found out that Madhu and Anusha were on the same team, he promptly declared, "I am on Madhu's team". So vijay was on the other team. This time, Madhu and I cracked movie names together..with Anusha and Balaji guessing correctly...like Apocalypto, Bridge on the River Kwai, and One who flew over the Cuckoo's nest. ...in a matter of seconds.

So again vociferous protests ensued, and the opposite team demaded that Madhu and I be seperated. So Vijay and I switched places.

This time, too, we did a good job. I was able to crack a couple of movie names, or atleast guess correctly, though we didn't get the name on time. Of course, it was Madhu giving the names most of the time.

One particularly difficult name had come to us, and all of us were trying to guess what was being acted out....Uma, standing next to me, got so excited, that she began to hit my elbow, urging me, "Nithya, do you know this, do you know this?"..when I was trying hard to guess. I mean, it was that much fun. Ultimately it turns out to be a tongue twister of a movie name, and Madhu claimed he and I had seen it together here in USA.

The thing with me is, I see movies, and I forget them soon after, unlike Madhu, who remembers the names, actors, dialogues et al. be it Tamil, English, or Hindi. He knows the lyrics of Hindi songs I have all but forgotten. Meena was astounded at Madhu's retention power....

Reminiscing about the whole thing, Madhu and I realised we wouldn't have been able to meet so many people, so frequently, in India. Balu Anna met another of his school classmates yesterday at the birthday party, Satish Jayaraman, who happens to be Madhu'and Muthu's colleague at office. So I told Balu anna, "Sitting in Maine, would you have thought you would be meeting your old classmates in Phoenix?"Anyway, Satish didn't stay long. So back to topic. All people in IT industry are working hard Monday to Saturday, coming home late at nights, with no time for socialisation. Here, thanks to the "weekends off" policy followed by companies, people are able to meet often,travel, and the friends circle keeps growing.

Well, I am having a good time.!!!!!