The Dai Bus. Or, why Rowling must be a Malayali

"Edai!" - I heard the scream and felt the push and as I flew off the path, I saw a low-slung, pink contraption with bunny-ear-mirrors screeching to a halt exactly where I'd been standing. How could I have forgotten this modernised means of transport for the average Malayali? It has been a while, for sure, and now I couldn't resist.


Trying to retain stability, I hung on to the overhead handle with both hands. But my concept of stability did not account for differences in acceleration between the floor and the roof of Bunny-Ears. At start, my feet rushed ahead of the rest of me; a nice 40-degree angle between sole and crown poured out any feeling of dignity I had left. Thankfully, when the roof decided to catch up, I was somewhat ready for it and came back from about the 110-degree mark itself. Hmm, just slightly out of habit, that's all.


Yank!! 810 degrees round the middle. Or what used to be the middle, it seemed to be on multiple axes and multiple planes at the same time. Anyway, it wasn't a swerve I had experienced in any bus ride, anywhere, ever. No wonder the people of this region swing all possible ways, election-time or otherwise! I wasn't sure what was left of my right - or even where it was. And I'm the only one who is shaken up. My fellow passengers do not seem to realize they had come within 2 paint-coats thickness of being footnotes in a bus-collision report. Oooh, the driving! Wait a minute, I've seen something like this - Prisoner of Azkaban! Hold out your wand-hand, now!! But The Knight Bus, if you remember, changed its contours and Ernie had an easy time of it in his armchair, with no worries about actually pranging his vehicle.

However, this here isn't wizardry, just absolutely top-class driving skills. Skills that cannot be measured by any normal driving tests, but are unerringly spotted by every RTO in God’s Own Country; for without them, there will certainly be many more prangs than vehicles on road. Even so, getting off Bunny-Ears was a relief!

And oh, Joanne, a very Happy Onam to you, too!!

My sister, the President?

Hmmm... so it is Prathibha, after all. As Balakrishnan was swearing in, I was, like many others, swearing at.


Would have been foolish to have expected it to turn out otherwise; yet, one hoped. Now, the hope turns in another direction. I'm hoping that she doesn't take it to her head to visit a few places that she hasn't been to and demonstrate her unique conversational abilities. No, not even Africa, they won't be impressed with such tricks at all, their jujus are much more sophisticated, even technologically.

My mother, however, wants her to be well known. Her reasons are simple. If her daughter's name is popularised, then maybe they'd stop calling her Prat. But I secretly hope that if the former happens, the latter runs the other way! Prat the President!! Yay!!!

The Launch

Ah, well, that wasn't too difficult, the first few words.

Having used many free sites for many things over the years, I have developed the foresight to understand that the handle you pick stays with you for a long time. With this refined understanding, I thought that I had become a better handle-picker. Unfortunately, it appears that many other people also use the internet and their foresight appears to be twenty/20 times better. So, no more handles, only names.

And then that Aussie had to happen. No, not Greg Stephen, the other Greg, the Roberts chappie. Seems to be bent on popularising my name all over the world. Having Johnny Depp assist in this certainly helps. But then my niece had to say that she doesn't like Depp, what with his kajal-lined eyes and long skirts (? - but then she watches more movies than I), so now I'm wondering if I would indeed like such associations....

So much for this ramble. Will have to get back later.