The Oedipus Mix Up..

    
My college days were the best..Not only did i find English Literature interesting, it was also a lot of fun ..especially the classical Literature..As much as i love everything about college, one particular incident is unforgettable..

Our professor for classical literature was our HOD (Head of the Department) and we called her 'Speeding bullet' ( SB )..She was a petite lady, with a soft voice and a kind face but she spoke so fast that she was always mixing up her words ..Like the time she said, "You girls need to embarrass (instead of embrace) your inner self"..and she sure was embarrassed the minute she realized her mistake ..(so her name SB)..

Greek Literature is very interesting but a tad confusing.. with so many Gods and Demi gods, their gazillion affairs, their fun and  frolick with the divine and mortals alike.. And as if this wasn't enough, throw in a professor  like SB, and boom  ..welcome to the world of mix ups..The rumor in class was that her lectures will confuse even the Gods in Mount Olympus ..

Now back to my unforgettable incident..
It was one of those hot summer afternoons and right after lunch SB walked in with her trusted red binder filled with notes..i heard a couple of yawns from the rows behind me and i was trying hard to stifle a yawn myself..But mercifully the great Zeus and his brood kept me awake for the next hour or so..SB was telling us the fable of Oedipus Rex.His story in short goes as such..Cursed and abandoned as a baby, Oedipus unknowingly  fulfills the curse by  killing his father, marrying his mother and becomes the king..Once he realizes his mistake, he blinds himself..
The God's seem to have had a thing for horrid curses and a weird sense of humor..

SB started to talk about Oedipus' childhood and the curse .After an hour's rambling she came to the part where he killed his father and married the mother..
If only she stayed with the story and had not gone into the psychological aspect of it..She was telling us about the stage in a boy's life they call Oedipus Rex period..In layman's terms she was describing a ' Mama's Boy' ..And just when i thought things couldn't get any worse..SB dropped the bomb shell...Thank God we were a girls only college..For her next statement would have scarred a boy for life ..
With a straight face and in the lullaby tone of her's she said, ' in a certain age, boys love their moms so much that they even make love to them in their dreams'..

What in the world?? and just like that my half closed eyes snapped open and i shook my head to wake myself from the  dream ..it must surely be a dream. Even SB was not capable of getting her words so messed up, i thought to myself .... Looking at Shoba my best friend, i knew i was wrong ..Shoba had the same shocked expression on her face and her eyes were as wide as saucers..We both turned back just in time to see our HOD realizing her tongue twist and looking around to see if any of us had noticed..oops!! too bad we did..But thankfully for SB's sake most of the class was half a sleep..Once the shock of the statement settled, i wanted to laugh out loud, and had to bite my tongue hard to control my escaping snickers..Later that day Shoba and myself had a laughing fit and almost split our sides...

Its been so long now, since college, but it still brings a smile, the memories of SB and her good old Greek Literature classes..I wonder what she was trying to say, before her embarrassing tongue twist..i guess i'll never know..

No place like Home..

      

My 20 days of fun vacation were over..
'Good morning ! Let the stress begin', the little plaque in my desk announced..Yup..i was back to the daily grind..

To the shrieking alarm clock and the super busy mornings, the long commutes, number crunching, report analyzing and the barrage of emails..Back to the much awaited one hour lunch breaks and swapping stories with friends..to the dull afternoons and Captain Java's rescues..
Back to listening to my kid's daily stories of school and the list of chores that await me at home..The little squealing guinea pigs and the shrill whistles of the cooker..The head butting with my daughter's home work and family dinners.. looking forward to the weekends and the little issues with our lawn not being green enough or the roses not being big enough..Back to my weekend ' the kitchen is closed strikes'..The cleaning dates with the restrooms, the dusting dates with the book shelves and the washing dates with my laundry machine.
Back to my blog and my occasional sketches..The phone calls to home and friends.. to being home sick and craving for mom's cooking..Back to the weekend BBQ and birthday parties, pot lucks, good food and fine friends..Playing the host and the chief..The frequent grocery shopping and new recipe trials..Back to paying bills and my overly swiped bank card..The bike rides and the exercise routines..The so called diets and the hopes of loosing weight..The routine doctor's visits and their never ending co pays..Back to this and much more..Being back is such a bore you might think..
But i love it, daily grind or not..After all there is no place like home !!

Ode to our Cary!!

        

It is funny, how an inanimate objects has a life and a story of its own in our world..My toddler named our black 2004 Mitsubishi Galant, Cary. "We'll go feed (fueling) cary and give her a shower(car wash) and take cary to the store daddy", she said the very first week we purchased her, 6 years back..From then on Cary was a part of our family..She was a beauty and had one heck of a powerful engine in her..

I remember the day i learnt to drive her..She was untamable in my hands..Little by little the trust between us strengthened..i learnt to master cary..But not before the 2 accidents and a few fender benders..Poor old Cary..It was never good news when we had to take her to the mechanic shop..Taking Cary for the emission checks and state inspections, i felt like a nervous mother waiting outside praying that cary passes her tests..and she did every time with flying colors..

Cary was always okay with my little one's crayon scribblings , finger prints on the window and the littering..She'd seen my baby through her baby seat and then the booster seat too..We had some fun family times in Cary..She stuck with us through thick and thin..

But 10 K miles and a few cronic booboos later, it was time to let her go...It was not easy ..With a very heavy heart and tears in our eyes we said our good byes to Cary and hoped the new owners would take good care of our Beloved Cary..She was the very first thing we owned, and now she is no longer ours..

We miss you Cary and you'll always be part of our family!!