Neeraj's Take On.......

 For someone coming from one language-speaking community and living in one that speaks another, many of u reading this can relate to the plight I am going through. We are most likely to be caught between the home and host languages. In my case, it was Malayalam and Tamil.  When I was in Trichy, I was caught between the Malayalam spoken at home, the Tamil spoken outside, and the English spoken at school (Yeah the last part was of no consequence).  My mother always tells this with a story of me in playschool. The word for water in Malayalam is 'Vellam'. So whenever I wanted water at home, I would say 'Vellam'. However, the same Vellam in Tamil means Jaggery!!! And my mom said that my Preschool teacher was initially confused, for she would have wondered, why does he need Jaggery but doing the action for drinking? (The actions kids do to clearly convey what they are trying to say.. Yeah that's the one).  So my mom had to tell my preschool teacher that whenever I said Ve...

It has been nearly a month (and counting) since my mother underwent surgery. U know that "cliched" dialogue mothers give "Start working around the house so u will know to do things when I am not here?". Well, I did learn a few of the things: "patiently" cleaning a sink full of utensils and others. Thankfully my mom underwent her surgery towards the end of my semester, which means no classes and only assignments for evaluation. Thank God!!! If it was otherwise, then I am done for!  Anyways, the first day after my mom left for the hospital, I did the cooking for all three meals- breakfast, lunch and dinner... But I realized that the associated tasks eat into my assignment time ( I would say this is mostly bcoz of my late waking up; Though I set the alarm for 7am, I switch off the alarm and sleep till 7:30... Lazy Me? Yes, Yes, Yes!!!).  That was when our neighbours came to know about the situation at home and offered to help me out... In COOKING (What did ...

The lockdown, which was to be a two-week mid semester vacation (This is what I initially thought it was going to be) ended up becoming more than half a year and counting.....   It was in the middle of the second semester that I had to come back home from IIT. Now the new "online" classes (They have now gone from "online" classes to online classes, I think u get the difference. No?? Look again!!).  I would kill my time in between classes (Not during classes, Come On!!! Don't judge me so quickly) by watching videos on YouTube.  Remember that thing YouTube does called "Recommended Videos", where they send videos similar to the ones u watch? It was one such YouTube recommendation that brought me to the book I just finished reading.....  The video was of a game show called Family Feud. Checked it out.. It was a bit out of my league, but the host was downright hilarious. His name..... Steve Harvey...  Yep!! This Him!!! You would have already seen him  What...

The place where I study now, IIT Madras is located in the middle of a National Park. So we hostellers aren't permitted to use motor vehicles ( It's not of much use anyway, considering the fact that I don't have a motorbike despite having a driving license. Also, the experience at the driving school was gut-wrenching). So all hostelers had the option to walk or ride a bicycle. Given the vast campus (around 660 acres), walking for a lean person like me is out of the question. Also, it had been a long time since I rode a bicycle, so I decided: Get a Bicycle!!! Every year for freshers who don't have a bicycle, there is a bicycle sale at the Sangam grounds inside the campus, where over a thousand cycles are for sale. Me and my father went there and a salesman showed us a Red colour XYZ bike.( I don't want to hurt the sentiments of the lovers of the particular brand, it was a well-reputed one, and it took me a while to come to terms that this bicycle was made by this bran...

 As the Ananthapuri Express left Kerala and entered Tamil Nadu, it was a moment of joy and nostalgia for the 18-year-old me. On 23rd July 2019, I was to join the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT Madras. ( I think that's the date, I can't remember it..... Come On, it's been one year since that took place!!!!). As the pastures and windmills of Nagercoil went past me, the good old days in Trichy came rushing to my memory when the first thing we were eager to know was the last day of the Annual exam, so that we could book our tickets to Kerala. That routine went on for several years until in 2013 all got derailed and I ended up permanently in Kerala. When we reached Chennai and had a day more to the orientation,  my father and I decided to get everything done before we leave for IIT : go to the movie, eat outside, buy some stuff for hostel etc.  Hostel. Was told to be Cauvery when it was changed to Brahmaputra at the last minute. I didn't know either of...