The Z's of City Connect

A to Z Challenge - My Theme-  City Connect - my connect with....

Aurangabad-Schooling & Junior College / Bombay- Graduation & First job/ Chennai - Marriage & Motherhood

AURANGABAD

ZEE TV-  Color TV came home; so did the Cable Connection. Zee was our prime channel of entertainment after DD.  Hum Paanch entertained the noon with its Anand Mathur & family. Wednesday night 8 PM Slots reserved for Hip Hip Hurray.

Mrs Madhuri Dixit ; Doh aur Doh Paanch & Chota Mooh Aur Bati Baath -are some memorabilia in my list. Episodes ended showing "It's a Zee TV presentation". And that meant we wait for a whole week to catch up with the next one! Weekly Tele series they were, unlike the Daily soap operas of today.

BOMBAY

ZEAL - Our Management College Fest. A relatively new college back then - ours was the 1st batch to have a College Fest. From finalizing Fest name to organizing events - had to plan everything from scratch. Committees were formed ; duties assigned; timelines set. As expected differences cropped up- arguments happened. When we realized we are nearing Fest Day- it was preparations in full swing. There was celebration in the canteen when our very 1st Fest poster was out - it read " ZEAL" .

CHENNAI

ZEERAGAM - So; if news updates helped me catch up with Tamil Nadu geography - cookery shows enhanced my tamil food vocabulary. Irrespective of what is being cooked- more often than not, there is a mention of Zeeragam/ Manjal thool (turmeric powder) / Peringaya thool (asafoetida). Best part of a cookery shows is - they show you what they are referring to. This pictorial representation helps and sometimes inter-lingo connectivity works,  .Jeera in hindi becomes Zeeragam in Tamil [ cumin seeds].

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The Y's of City Connect

A to Z Challenge - My Theme-  City Connect - my connect with....

Aurangabad-Schooling & Junior College / Bombay- Graduation & First job/ Chennai - Marriage & Motherhood

AURANGABAD
YOGANANDA & THE GOLDEN AMULET- I don't recall now if it was Amar Chitra Katha or any other publication but we had this book at home. The story spoke about how a simpleton Mukunda becomes the great saint Yogananda. If we as, kids owned this book- Dad in his precious collection owned Autobiography of a Yogi - by Paramahansa Yogananda

BOMBAY
YAZHINI-  A friend from graduation college Bombay. My family use to prompt me to check if I can pronounce her name correctly. Yazhini is etymologically a tamil name and there is hardly any English equivalent to the "ZH part" of it. This name gets pronounced as Yaalini/ Yaazini/  Yayini -but they differ from how the exact pronunciation in Tamil goes.  
Maazhai (Rain)/ Vaazhaipazham (Banana) are 2 other words, I can think of facing similar challenge as Yazhini

CHENNAI

YOU HEAR THEM SAY -When new to Chennai ; to me ; getting hold of state geography was of high interest. It still is! Apart from going around the city ; I use to be all ears; to Tamil news updates my mother in law use to watch.  Right from the headlines & all though the news- You Hear them Say - district & city names like "Krishnagiri Maavatnam", "Madurai Maanakaram", Erode- Dindigul-Salem....so on. In the next available opportunity -I would fetch a map & check how these places spread across Tamil Nadu.

The X's of City Connect

A to Z Challenge - My Theme-  City Connect - my connect with....

Aurangabad-Schooling & Junior College / Bombay- Graduation & First job/ Chennai - Marriage & Motherhood

AURANGABAD

XMAS CELEBRATION AT SCHOOL - Attending a Christian school meant robust Christmas celebrations. Onset of December - our school entrance would have a trinity.  As we enter the premises- a large Christmas tree to welcome. The tradition of the Santa Claus delivering chocolates was eagerly anticipated in every classroom. Christmas Celebrations at school was always pre-dated -that is before a couple of days before Christmas arrived. It was followed by a Christmas Vacation -with the school reopening in New year.

BOMBAY

XAVIERS COLLEGE MUMBAI- Introduction to Bombay in movies has some typical structural references. It is either Victoria Terminus or Xaviers College. To show the crowd of Bombay, for years,  camera lens have been zooming in on Dabbawalas or moving Locals. Bombay typical as I call them - a visual treat that connects viewers to Bombay instantly.

CHENNAI

XYLOPHONE - Not just rhymes-I end up playing toddler games as well. Its amusing to watch myself descend from playing vocabulary enthusiastic Scrabble, mind bending Brainvita; to a sound emanating Xylophone.  From  tackling the colorful marbles of Chinese Checkers- to being a co-participant in identifying colours on Xylophone pad- I am playing underage games these days.

The W's of City Connect

A to Z Challenge - My Theme-  City Connect - my connect with....

Aurangabad-Schooling & Junior College / Bombay- Graduation & First job/ Chennai - Marriage & Motherhood

AURANGABAD

WINDSOR CASTLE - At some restaurants we eat less though we see & hear of it regularly. Windsor Castle was on such place. Our choice for family dinner was always Angeethi   - as mentioned in Prompt A. Windsor Castle, like Angeethi offered Moghulai food- similar fine dining experience. Yet our visit to this place was restricted to get-togethers or send off parties hosted by others. But I always had a liking to the anglicized name of this restaurant

BOMBAY

WHILE IT RAINS -  When RJ Malishka on Radio says "Ek Garam Chai ke saath yeh gaana toh banta hai." a lot of Mumbaikars are waiting to hear which Rain song is coming up next. Monsoon in Bombay use to bring out some aimless talent at home. On rainy mornings- we have written our names on window panes. This blog has also reminisced some poetic pondering on rains. Office corridors will welcome us with open umbrellas - followed by rain story that each colleague happily narrates.

CHENNAI
WHEELS ON THE BUS GO ..... Yes I have been humming a lot of rhymes - thanks to my toddler. Earlier the spontaneous songs that I use to hum while cooking/ cleaning would be Hindi songs. These days inadvertently I sing a lot of rhymes. And many of these rhymes, though popular I havent learnt them in school. These learnings are recent..... .....Incy Wincy Spider....

The V's of City Connect

A to Z Challenge - My Theme-  City Connect - my connect with....

Aurangabad-Schooling & Junior College / Bombay- Graduation & First job/ Chennai - Marriage & Motherhood

VIYOVIJ/ AURANGABAD

Those were the days of Dial up connection
At a time either the Phone or internet only 1 could function
Downloading was new ; Emailing was fun
Outlook use to say " Sending One of One"
We had our accounts on Sify & Rediff
And a family user id by the name Viyovij

VEG FRANKIES / BOMBAY 

There was a little Frankie store;

Just outside our office door.
Paneer/Egg/ Veg & Chicken;
It offered these options Four.
With Frankies in hand-we have walked the lane
Sometimes even boarded a train
God knows from where all the crowd came;
This little shop, had its own fame!

VISHAKA HARI / CHENNAI 

We grew fond of this vocalist
Enjoyed Krishna stories coming from the artist
Some of the epics were known before
Yet willing to hear how her narrations pour
On the back every narrative -a music ferries
A signature style to relish from Vishaka Hari

The U's of City Connect

A to Z Challenge - My Theme-  City Connect - my connect with....

Aurangabad-Schooling & Junior College / Bombay- Graduation & First job/ Chennai - Marriage & Motherhood

AURANGABAD

UPMA FOR TIFFIN - Weekend afternoons meant  Mom  make some variety snacks  ( called Tiffin in South Indian homes) . It included all that our weekaday routine didn't bring in. From Puri to Pongal anything was acceptable. But Upma was a strict no. Mom tried tempting with a Vegetable Upma  option . But somehow Upma never thrilled, neither does it today. Irrespective of the variation an Upma  stares blankly out of plate - or so I feel!

BOMBAY

USSSSH KOI HAI-Ghost story sessions- a part of very late evening activities on our building terrace. "Nath sisters" - brilliant story tellers who brought in all the eerie feeling & setting a ghost narration required. They repeatedly put off our requests to have story sessions during daylight. We, a group of 6-7 different aged friends have heard Evil Dead narrations in bits & pieces over a month.

CHENNAI

UGADI -Different Cities- Different Names - Different flavours they take upon. Gudi Padva of Maharashtra became Ugadi in Chennai.  Maharashtrians showed the signifcance of placing  a Gudi by the window - Ugadi emphasized the importance of "5 flavored Pacchadi". More festivals changed names as I shifted cities - Sankranti became Pongal ; Janmaashtami became Krishna Jayanthi Interestingly even Gods take a new name as city changes-  Karthikeyan became Murugan '&  Ganesha became Vinayagar.

The T's of City Connect

A to Z Challenge - My Theme-  City Connect - my connect with....

Aurangabad-Schooling & Junior College / Bombay- Graduation & First job/ Chennai - Marriage & Motherhood

AURANGABAD

TOOP SAAKHAR POLI - All 3 are Marathi Words. Poli is Roti ( Indian flatbread), Toop is Ghee ( Clarified butter) &  Saakhar is Sugar.  Apply a liberal quote of ghee on rotis & sprinkle it with Fine powdered sugar. 

1. It tastes yummy if you are sweet lover. 
2. Will entice your taste buds if you need a quick bite. 
3. It's a happy snack when taken to school. 
4. Its an interesting makeover with leftover rotis..
5. I can go on and on.... on this one.... 

BOMBAY

TINKLE DIGEST- Summer vacations meant, joining a nearby library. When most of my friends went for Famous Five; Secret Seven & Nancy Drew-  I picked up Tinkle Digest. Supandi/ Ramu- Shamu/ Doob-Doob/ Tantri- Mantri- never failed to excite. It took some time to realize, books without pictures can also be interesting.

CHENNAI

THOUSANDS LIGHT - It was a crowded bus & there were many standees. I was one of them. Bus conductor was 3 people ahead of me. A lady standing behind me, requested that I buy her a ticket for "Thousand Lights".

Thousand Lights is well known bus stop - but I was too new to the City to know about it. On top of it - she was referring to the Tamil name of Thousand Lights- which was all the more difficult for me understand.

I was figuring out how to tell her that "Neither is your voice audible, nor is the language familiar to me". Its too long a sentence to tell in Tamil on a moving bus.

Thankfully another person came to rescue & bought her the ticket.