‘Kowdiar Lights’ is a two part series. As the name inexorably suggests, the series is about some  stuff that happened over the past week during my visits to this very posh part of Trivandrum City called Kowdiar. For dummies, Kowdiar is home to  countless chicks, some of the richest people in the state, super-awesome roads (by Trivandrum standards, that is!) and of course, one of the worst Cafe Coffee Day‘s in India!

The gold plated needles of my Bosch watch glistened under the evening ‘Lights of Kowdiar’ (which have a special aura thanks to the ‘international’ feel of the place – Golf Links residents will know better!). 3:50 PM, it read. I was twenty five minutes early to my ‘appointment’ with Aravind – Ol’ buddy and one of the most brilliant, talented and humble guys I’ve ever known! I’ve been his fan for a while, and when he invited me for a ‘treat’ at CCD that day, the last thing I could do was to resist. I thought I’d be late as always for the treat, but like bolt from blue, my post-noon Computer Networks lab session was canceled. Ergo, I was free (and jobless) by 2 PM! Despite stringent attempts to kill time by choosing a birthday gift for a friend and browsing through random magazines at the public library, I couldn’t do much to solve my joblessness quagmire. Thus, for the first time in years, I reached somewhere on time ahead of time. Half an hour ahead.

Within no time, the jobless monster resumed attack in full swing. I criss-crossed the wide avenue in front of CCD countless times, faked calls, fired texts and what not! Tough luck, the usually packed CCD was near-empty and there wasn’t a single good looking girl inside! Besides, I was out of cash, ergo, I couldn’t go in alone. To cut a long story short, I was harried, haggard and ultimately pissed-off like the proverbial ‘water-water-everywhere-not-a-drop-to-drink’ guy, when I got this call.

Nature’s call.

It all started as a ‘pressure variation’. Going by the good ol’ Boyle’s Law, I decided that Volume would be inversely proportional to pressure, and ‘devolumation’ (now, don’t look that up – it’s just another random word!)  could wait, for the volume will decrease with pressure. Not for long. In a couple of minutes’ time, the pressure mounted to unmentionable proportions, leaving me at wits’ end! Along came clarity of thought and a stingy teaspoon of truth – Boyle’s law was applicable only for gases!! I had no other option, but to let go of all the pressure through a very healthy outlet!

CCD had a loo, but getting in would mean sacrilege, considering my precarious finances, for I would have to stay there once I got inside! Naturally, I followed my instincts and did what any human being would resort to – I ran in search of clearance, right into the nearby lane – Belhaven Gardens. The surreptitious signboard beguiled me into assuming that lane to be poor man’s colony – an impression suitably flushed out (if you will pardon the pun) by a swanky BMW SUV parked near an equally surreptitious house! There were people everywhere, the houses were posh and tall with large boulevards – each sporting a minimum of two overpriced sedans! I’d be  kicked in the arse  straight by PC408 at Museum Police Station if I’d pee here! My mind was blank, and I ran. Or rather, I walked at a brisk pace. Running was out of question, a wrong step would lead only to involuntary release of all my body toxins, and that was the last thing I wanted!

Somehow, escaping pregnant glances of passers-by, I slipped into a sublane. Perfect place, I first thought. Relieved, I’d barely opened my zip, when I saw this mini lorry parked at the other end of the lane. The driver opened the front door and jumped out to  smoke a joint. He was walking towards me. Cursing lack of privacy, I resumed my pursuit further through this sublane, ending up in Devaswam Board Junction. Much to my relief, I noticed a tiny bride-type road at one corner of the junction. That road was the one few people would give a second thought about. With all might my self control would permit, I ran towards the decrypt lane!!

All hopes of peeing there was dashed by a makeshift teashop swarmed by a motley crowd, at the mouth of the lane. I hadn’t seen them before, they weren’t there!! How in the world could they apparate into that area at the very opportune moment?!

Without losing faith, I clutched my bag and casually walked inside the lane. There might be a way out! (<– Pun)  Sweat was oozing from all parts of my body – not just because of the tiresome sprints from Kowdiar to Devaswam Board. My mind was blank and eyebrows contorted in painful scorn, as my body shivered with each step. This was the ultimate test of self control. I thought I’d just let go then and there. An inner voice was the only guiding light, now! I walked for about a hundred metres and reached a tiny bridge, surrounded by some undergrowth. There were houses flanking my right side and the left side was a solid stone wall.

Finally!

I heaved a sigh and unzipped my fly. I took my mobile from my shirt pocket and held it in the right hand, mouthing a a voiceless conversation just to avoid an embarrassing situation, if any passer-by were to poke his nose into my privacy! As I was about to relieve myself, a crumpled old figure walked towards me through the other end of the bridge. I froze. She, presumably, couldn’t see that I was about to pee, thanks to a melange of foliage right in front of me!  Gradually an casually, I turned ninety degrees, phone carefully clutched to the ear and pretended a phone call. I didn’t give another glance to the old lady. As I saw walk by me and get ahead with the corner of my eye, I didn’t waste another moment!

I swerved faster than Schumi’s Ferrari and peed into the foliage like a madman!!

That was *THE* BEST peeing experience I’ve ever had – an enjoyable process that took almost thirty seconds to complete and made me lighter by a kilogram or so! I closed my eyes in deep relief and zipped my fly, only to hear a muffled voice and open up!

It was a fseven year old kid, peeping at me through the iron grilled windows of his house – the kid was laughing his arse off, he apparently had been witness to the entire incident!

I smiled an embarrased smile to this ‘PeePal’ and ran back to Cafe Coffee Day!

The woods were lonely, dark and deep, and I had people to meet!

Food – arguably, the most essential requirement for existence of life on the face of Planet Earth. Food is the most ubiquitous and integral part of our lives. Each day, we gobble up countless quantities of food items, savoring the taste, barely remembering to have a neat look at the stuff we ingest. For most of us, the experience of ‘food’ goes solely by the taste it gives.

How wrong!

Taste is just one facet of food – it’s all about the health and calories you get from each morsel of what you eat. Many of us fail to realize that when we eat tonnes of junk food by the day – a habit that will actually pronounce death for a major chunk of humanity in the foreseeable future. No, I’m not exaggerating. The fact is: You are what you eat, period.

CC credits: Cayusa

Surprised? Skeptical? Incensed? I’m not done yet, buddy.

First – the origins of the phrase. What began as a random mention in the essay: “Physiologie du Gout, ou Meditations de Gastronomie Transcendante” by French Author Brillat-Savarin in 1826 acquired great fame by the release of the book: You Are What You Eat: how to win and keep health with diet
by  nutritionist Victor Lindlahr in 1942. The hippie era of the ’60s saw a craze for healthy food sweep in, giving the phrase a cult aura of its own!

Needless to say, the food you eat goes a long way in modifying and altering yourself. It’s proved that Junk Food is a silent killer – the more crap you eat, the more are chances that you’ll die an early death! There are clear links between junk food and cancer too!! So the next time you savor on that packet of ‘Lays’, beware – you’re shortening your lifespan!

And it’s not just junk food – many studies and analyses have proved that the phrase has staggeringly literal implications. To cut a long story short – you are often what you eat, literally. A case in my point would be people living in the seashore. Their staple food is, no points for guessing, fish. Go live among the fisherfolk and you’ll know better – seashores have the biggest incidents of violence! Check out any seashore in any part of the world – life would be turbulent there for reasons more than one. Wanna know why? What happens to a fish when you pull it out of water? It dies a violent death. And these people eat so much fish! Those of you from India might know a lot of Brahmins – the caste known for their strict vegetarianism. They’re among the calmest people. Rarely do you see them in a fight. There’s this brahmin friend of mine who actually breaks down in tears if someone’s mock-fighting with him! A lack-of-aggression and calmness caused by stringent intake of vegetarian food.

Some of you might think this is pure blasphemy or even downright crap. You have all right to freedom of expression and interpretation. But I just have one thing to say – the next time you eat something, make sure that you eat it for the nutrients – not just for taste!

P.S.

I recommend Vegetarian food. Yes, I’ve turned veggie, thanks to Art Of Living and Prasanth. More on the ‘transformation’ later.

P.P.S.

Of course, you wouldn’t be nuts once you start eating ‘em! Eating nuts is good! : P