Believed it not

Wednesday 10.15 pm

Dear diary,
How many of us have a dilemma over which group to take in class eleven and twelve? A little more than three fourth of the Class 10 student population at least? Fortunately, I am a class apart. I know for sure that I want the Commerce group. But amma will never let it be. An engineer she is and an engineer I should be.

Amma has serious apprehensions about what Commerce can do for me. A staunch believer of the play of time, dates, stars, the wind, the cats and even the lizards, she tricked me into fixing an appointment with our family astrologer, S.V.P. Giri, to foretell what’s the best for me. I shot out a few unpleasant real-life examples, trying to convince her that astrology is just a fool’s play. But according to amma, astrology is stubbornly a science. I’ve seen S.V.P. Giri a couple of times during my sister’s wedding. I still can’t forget the ugly paan stains on his spaced out teeth. They’re worse than his corny phrases.

Sigh! The battery is going low …the torchlight is getting dimmer and mom will be furious if she finds out what I’ve written. So good night diary… and weirdo Giri, here we come!


Friday, 3.25 pm

Dear Diary,
I can never even mention the word Commerce again in my life. S.V.P Giri has run his dirty boots all over my life. I’m doomed forever. Sob!


Friday, 10.35 pm

Dear Diary,
I saw the paan stains again…and I can’t believe the red-toothed crook tricked my mom into this. Amma and I took a call taxi all the way from Adyar to Ambattur. Mr. Nostredamus wanted us there exactly at the strike of ten and amma didn’t want to keep the busy guy waiting. We got down from the taxi and stepped right on a black cat’s tail. The cat hissed, its eyes clouding in with hatred. I tried convincing my mom that black cats being a sign of bad omen, today wouldn’t be ideal for a prediction as crucial as this. Oddly, she didn’t fall prey to the threat. I followed her inside, disillusioned.

Mrs.Giri wiping her forehead with the tips of her sari, made us sit on the floor of the living room. I watched the ants carry away the food particles that lay scattered around. Cobwebs, cockroaches, soot and the rude clank of vessels … I was surprised at how amma managed to put on a pleasant face.

Giri made his grand appearance, at his own sweet pace, carelessly chewing pawn and spitting out the gooey red mess into a worn-out vessel from the Stone Age. I tried very hard imagining him busy, but failed miserably. He blew his nose and wiped his fingers on his unclean, disgust-evoking dhoti. We sat across him as he hungrily munched on a murukku, after offering us some. Amma quietly pinched my thigh to warn me not take it. I knew better than that anyway. The stench put me off anyway. Wiping his oily fingers on his dhoti again, he started a random play with some nuts and shells. I tuned out of the whole process, but a few words like “Raagu , Kethu, Shani, flew in and out of my ears, forming illusionary question marks inside my head. I knew the session came to an end when he said, “ Kuzhandhaikku science group eduthaa pirkalathula vazhkai jagajodhiya amaiyum”. It took all my will power to hold back the tears that rushed out almost immediately. On our way back, Amma went on with her twaddle about how well software geeks are doing in life. I stood like a deaf mute at the bus stop (we were in no hurry to get back…hence the mode of transport) and let the tears flow out slowly. Drenched in salty dampness, I tried to push away the grim thought of S.V.P. Giri.
Later, during my afternoon nap, S.V.P. Giri tormented me in my dream. But guess what? He’s given me an idea. Astrology is science after all, isn’t it? Giri’s inspired me to study the astrological sciences - or so I’m going to tell amma tomorrow. With her engineering dreams crashing down, it’s going to be a traumatizing decision for her. Let’s wait and watch the melodrama unroll. Hope amma likes the new avatar of her science whiz of a kid. And S.V.P Giri, better get me out of the mess he got me into. Good night diary.