Boni

Years ago as an Engineering student, when I was camping in Bangalore for a few days, I needed to go to Avenue Road and pick up a couple of text-books. It was urgent and I needed it the first thing next day.

There was an exam 2 days hence and I had realised that sharing text-books does not work out when it comes to preparing for exams.

So I left home early to make sure I can get the book so that I will have time to catch my train out of Bangalore later in the day.

I figured it would be easier to grab an auto-rickshaw and get to Avenue Road soon.

Well it was not!

Firstly as soon as I stood at the auto-rickshaw stand, one auto-driver approached me and insisted that I ride with him.

"How much?", I asked.

"70 Rs Sir", he replied.

"70? that is too much. I will give 40"

" Hogi sir! Boni hatti beku Sir. Yenri Sir neevu. Beligge Beligge (Get lost Sir! I am yet to make my first sale for the day and you are already bargaining)", he retorted back as if I had insulted his family.

"Whatever man!", I said to him as I continued looking for another auto.

Strangely, I could find no auto-driver who commanded a price in the range I asked for.

But it was worse: None of the auto-drivers wanted me to bargain first thing in the morning.

Damn it! "Your boni is your problem!", I told one driver.

Finally I just took the bus and got to Avenue Road

Every city in India has a street that is the textbooks hub for generations in the family.

Hyderabad has Koti.

Bangalore has Avenue Road.

Avenue Road is known for 2nd hand,3rd hand,4th hand textbooks.

Sellers and vendors set up their stalls and tables to sell 2nd hand books alongside the street, even as slightly bigger shops advertise the newer books and other school and college material.

It is a student's haven, and young college-goers' hangout.

So I went to this old lady setting up her stockpile of books on a table on the footpath.

"C R Kumar- Mathematics - 3rd year BE- VTU. 2nd hand?", I told her.

She pulled it out from her stockpile

"How much?", I asked

"52 Rupees", she snapped back.

"I will give 35 Rupees. Ok?", I asked instinctively. I think this is part of every Indian's psychology. Atleast every Indian on Avenue Road.

"Aye!! Beligge beligge....innu boni hathilla......sumne hogo illinda (Aye fellow. Its early morning, and I have still not made my first sale. Get lost)", she replied with such dirty eyes and threatening looks that I felt she was going to shoot me live.

I dropped the book and ran away.

I walked into a slightly bigger shop, thinking there would be more sanity there.

I asked the shop owner who was sitting grimly reading a newspaper.

It was 9 am.

"C R Kumar- Mathematics - 3rd year BE- VTU. 2nd hand?", I asked.

He made signs to an assistant.

That assistant made signs to another assistant sitting in the shop attic.

Soon a couple of books fell from the ceiling onto his hands and he brought it to me.

I checked the right book.

"How much?", I asked.

"60 Rs", the shop owner replied looking between the newspaper and his spectacles.

"I think you can give this for 40 Rs. 2nd hand right?

The shop owner continued reading the newspaper.

"Hello?", I persisted.

"Oye! Useless fellow! Boni hathilla innu. Take it or leave it", he shouted at the top of his voice as his spectacles fell down.

Goodness!

Whatever happened to Avenue Road! Whats with this obsession with "Boni"?

Is this the way to to business?

I left the book there, shaken!

I was getting late.

At the next few shops and vendors, I first checked to see their face.

If it was nice and sober, I approached them.

And then asked them "Boni hattidiya ivattu nimmege?"

I got either despaired looks, or surprised glances, or confused faces who thought I was a fellow vendor on Avenue Street trying to set up a Union for all the guys out there.

Finally, an hour later, I managed to buy my book for 45 Rupees.

It wasn't the deal I had expected.

But I had to rush back to catch my train later in the day.

Else I would be without 'Boni' myself!

Fan-Cleaning

Whenever i am at home, my mom reserves a day for cleaning the ceiling fans.

She is short enough to reach anywhere near the fans, and I am tall enough to reach them with a short stool.

So we start.

First we make sure no-one is at home.

Coz otherwise we have to trouble everyone.

Mom gets 2 buckets.

One is filled with soap water. One is filled with plain water.

I climb a stool and reach for the fan in the living room. 

Mom tosses a cloth soaked with the soap water.

And I start cleaning the blades of the fan.

Mom starts yelling that I should do it nicely.

I cheat her by changing the fan blades to the next one while she is dipping the cloth in the water.

I want to get done with this fast.

Mom wants to spend the whole day in this job.

Then we go to the next room.

There is a bed in the room.

So I stand on the stool placed on the bed and reach the fan.

We have placed a cloth over the bed so that dust does not fall.

Suddenly I fall from the stool and onto the bed.

Mom is scared and panicks.

I laugh saying that the bed is soft and she need not worry.

I enjoy the few minutes of rest I can get on the bed as an excuse.

Now mom feels guilty and decides she would clean the fans herself, and starts climbing the stool on the bed.

So then I feel guilty and prevent her from doing so.

She argues and decides she can.

I argue and laugh and tell her that I will continue.

And so I climb the stool again and finish the fan for her.

Then we go to the dining hall.

There we have to first cover the table with newspapers to allow easy cleaning.

As my mom starts setting up the newspapers on the table, i start reading those newspapers.

I get lost in some obscure speech made by Manmohan Singh and then some stupid advertisement for body massage.

Mom alerts me that time is running out and I should finish the cleaning fast.

So I place the stool on the table and clean the fan.

I realise there is a cricket match going on on TV.

I try to bend my head and catch the latest score.

Laxman batting, 121 not out.

In that excitement, the cloth drops from my hand and splashes on the bucket.

The bucket spills on the floor, and mom comes running from the other room.

"What happened", she asks.

"Laxman century. Hit a six"

"So? so what happened?"

"So bucket fell"

Now mom is upset.

Poor ladies. How much work they do at home?

And why arent we guys sensitive to their plight?

I clean up the mess on the floor.

Meanwhile Laxman is clean bowled.

Serves me right.

Finally last room.

Mom has prepared everything for this room.

Except that in this room, the fan has some silly design on its blades.

The design distracts me.

So I ask mom what was there for lunch.

She says "not yet made"

"Still not made? Ma???"

"Ok made. But first u clean"

"What have u made"

"Vaangi Baath"

"Ok i am cleaning everything very fast now"

Siggu Leda?

When I was studying in my class 11/12 in Andhra Pradesh, it was a new experience from the seasoned CBSE to the more intense State boards. The high school/junior college that I joined was far removed from the Hindi/English drama associated with CBSE schools. Here it was 'free for all' Telugu.

All your classmates spoke Telugu.

And even the faculty.

When the faculty spoke, students had to listen to them with rapt attention.

Else they would get a "Eh Ra! Neeku Goda Meda Ekkesta" (I will hang you up on the wall (omg!))

The back-benchers would care less. They were already doing it. Kind of.

The front benchers would giggle and make sure they dont laugh.

People like me would just note the phrase in their minds and analyse it on the way back home.

And get to know the meaning a few days later.

When I once turned up late to the class, the school administrator stopped me at the school gate and told me "Siggu leda?"

I didnt understand and blurted "I drank tea and came"

She was perplexed.

Changing to chaste English she asked "whaat aar you telling I say? Who asked about yuvar tea?"

I said 'Sorry!" and then went to the class.

Later I got to know that "Siggu leda" meant "Dont you have shame?"

I had heard it as "Sigulade" and it sounded like "Lemonade" and I thought she was selling lemonades at the gate.

I got used to Telugu though.

Soon I could understand everything. It helps ofcourse that your mother tongue Kannada is similar to Telugu in many ways. And soon I was able to converse in decent but simple Telugu.

Telugu classmates never watched "movies". They never watched "films".

They only watched "Cinemas".

"Cinema choodyan ra"

"Eeh cinema ra?"

"Pavan Kalyan ra. Sooper kottad ra"

"Pavan gadu unnada?"

All I would understand from such banter was that there was a movie in town that that had 2 names:

"Pavan Kalyan ra. Sooper kottad ra"

and

"Pavan gadu unnada?"

It puzzled me how a movie could have 2 names.

At that point the Chemistry lecturer would come to the class, and the class would fall silent.

He would first turn to the girls.

These schools had all the boys sit on one side of the class, and all the girls on the other side.

I think they were the first to implement the women's reservation bill in our country even before Parliament passed it.

"Yellag unnavamma?(how are you girl?)", the lecturer would ask a tiny girl who always sat in the 3rd seat of the first row of the class. She would say something which only he would be able to hear.

If she said something nice, the lecturer would be in good mood.

Else he would be angry about something.

Then he would turn to the girl sitting exactly behind her.

"Baaga unnavamma?" (are you doing good girl?)

Then he would blush.

And start the class.

First he would ask "Homework chesara? Yavar cheyledu, stand up" (have you all done your homework? Who has not, stand up!)

Some honest guys and girls would stand up.

Some like me were always in a fix. We would have only done part of the homework, so we would never know what to do.

He would go up to each student.

"Enduku cheyiledu ra (why didnt you do it man)?", he would ask a guy standing.

"Sir! Unt lo baaga ledu Sir" ("I was not well Sir")

"Gappal chepaku (stop giving me excuses)!", and he would slap him.

We would be stunned.

Some of us would quickly finish off the homework while he was scolding the others.

"Nuvve enduku cheyiledamma (why didnt you do it girl)?", he would ask a girl standing.

"Sir! Unt lo baaga ledu Sir (i am not feeling well sir)", she would reply

"Oh! Em aindamma. Perugu tinnava nuvvu. Bhojanam tinnava. Tablets teeskunnava?" (What happened girl? Did you eat curd? Did you have food? Did u take tablets?)

"Ownu sir" (Yes sir)

"Ore loafer. Oka kobrakai neerlu teeskonra tondraga" (you loafer! go and get a coconut water quickly), he would yell at one of the other fellows who had not done his homework and was thus standing.

That guy would immediately run out.

Lucky fellow!

"Sare.. kuchoamma kucho" (Ok! Sit girl. sit)

And he would move on to the next student.

Finally he would start the day's chemistry class.

He would write the equation on the blackboard:

2Na+Cl2 = 2NaCl

And then he would draw the electrons and protons and neutrons for both Na and Cl

And then start explaining with his mono-act, talking to himself about his characters:

"Hello Chlorine!!! Yella unnavu?? Baag unnava??" (hello chlorine! how are you doing? are you good?)

"Baag unnanu Sodium. Nuvvu?" (i am fine sodium. you?)

"He he..nenu baag unnanu. Neeku oka maata cheppali" (i am good. I have to tell u something)

"Yenti Sodium! Cheppu cheppu" (what is it sodium? tell me tell me)

"Naku..neetoh prema aiyindi. Iddaru kalisi salt autama?" (i have fallen in love with you. shall we both become salt together?)

The Cinema gadu sitting beside me would never like it- "Salt aa?? yenti tragic love story ra!".

The girls would laugh as if sodium had proposed to them.

The lecturer would continue his act:

"Sare!!! Nenu ready Sodium!!!" (Ok sodium! I am ready)

"Chlorine!! I love you. Ra!" (he would do a Brahmanandam expression, and all the students would burst out laughing)

"Adi yenti Sodium. Nee tamudu kuda unnadu??" (What is that sodium? your brother also has come?)

"Avanu amma! Maa idarikki nuvve kawali" (yes dear. We both want you) 

This lecturer had lost it! The girls had puzzled looks on their faces. The guys were listening in rapt attention. This might well be the answer to the common problem in all their minds - how to deal with a love triangle.

The lecturer continued

"Yellag ra Sodium. Chudu naku inte electrons unnai??" (How sodium? See I have only these many electrons?)

Goodness. This was becoming a biology class about family planning laced with very intricate 'chemistry'.

By this time he would have drawn arrows explaining how the 2 sodium atoms would combine with 1 chlorine atom.

"Illage (this way)!!!!", and he would point to "2NaCl" written on the board.

For the sake of maintaining sanity and also remembering our chemistry for the exams, we heaved a sigh of relief that our hero completed his movie!

The class was almost over.

And that guy would enter with his coconut water.

"Baboi! Nuvve entra! Inta late ga vacchavu. Siggu leda?"  (Oh fellow! you have come so late. Trying to cheat me? No shame?)

"Sir! Kobrakai lo neerle ledu sir" (Sir there was no water in the coconut)

"Champestan ra malli cheste" (I will kill you if you do this again)

"Sorry sir"

"Ammai ki ivvu adi" (Give it to that girl)

"Nuvvu tagisi amma (You drink this girl)", he would say pointing to the girl.

That girl would suppress her laughter and say "Yes sir. Thank you sir!

And the bell would ring.

And the class would be over

Allwyn

We reached home last sunday.

We were already late by 4 hours before reaching vizag...( my sis and myself had taken a bus from hyd)
Mom and dad were already tense and going crazy....and to add to that my cell also was low on battery and switched off.

So by the time we got home there was a lot of anxiety and cheer,and even though i had sent a message to dad via someone else's cell...it still was the talking point for a good 20 minutes!!!

Homecoming is such a wonderful feeling.
Back to my good old room, overlooking the bright blue sea called the Bay of Bengal.
The sea is just about 200 metres away from our building and makes for a pristine view!!!

I had a good refreshing bath.
And then walked into the pooja room. Over the years we at our home, refer to it as the God's Room!
And the divine fragance of the incense sticks is simply heavenly.

It transported me into a whole new world.
And the first words that came out as i sat in front of the Lord were, "Thank you Almighty"

I just thanked Him for everything......
I thanked Him for giving me a family....a home.....a faith...and for just everything else.

Then it was time for lunch.
It was Sankranti ( by the way...belated Pongal wishes to u too)

And mom had done an amazing job of cooking up numerous varieties.
There was the pongal. And some wonderful sweets.....oh i just cherished the feeling of the first bite.

Its only when we stay away from home do we realize the magic of a wonderful family lunch. Iam sure u would agree with me!

But right now I want to talk about our refridgerator!!!
This one device in our home is something that always excites me the first day i visit home!
I had lunch.
So I wasnt really hungry!

But i still proceeded to open the fridge!!
My mind travelled back to all the days during my previous visit.

Its amazing how the fridge keeps me tied to such pristine memory.

Ours is perhaps one of the most resilient refridgerators of modern india.
I dont think the model is available now...but its a good 16 years old now.

I was just 8 or 9 then i guess...and we were in mumbai.
Boy! this refridgerator has seen it all.
( Let me use the term "fridge" .Thats what my mom calls it...and thats what i thought it was called too,till i was enlightened in school with some elementary education! )

It s green coloured door has figured in almost all of our modern home photo albums!!!

However it wouldnt remember anything that any sane man would, after being a part of the family for almost 2 decades now.
Why??

Coz u dont know how we ve treated this fridge!!
So wonderfully.
It makes us remember everything instead!!

Mom is the prime and rather sole manager of the fridge.
Dad manages only a small section, a small sliding door in the fridge, to stock his purchase of fresh flowers, required for his pooja next morning.
And he invariably ends up hunting for space in that section too!!

Reason??- Mom!!

All moms are phDs in fridge space utilization.

The way the vegetables are stocked....well when u take them out for cooking, they are already cut for u!
When i had last seen the fridge, the bottom drawer that s supposed to stack leafy vegetables, was literally being punched into its place by mom.
And it remarkably went inside.....

On the inner side of the refrigerator door are the spacings to keep the neat little eggs that u bring home.
Thank god the designers made a provision for keeping eggs.
Had they left the decision to mom, i guess we would ve had to eat frozen omlettes everytime someone opened the fridge! ;-)

We dont eat eggs.
And that gives mom more ammunition, i mean space!

Ofcourse a few lemons have managed to find their way up from somewhere beneath the fridge racks onto the egg space!
Mom has some engineering brilliance right? The lemons fit beautifully.

Then there was an old or rather a semi used cone kept there. I wondered if it was a Cornetto Walls?
Upon trying hard i finally managed to make out that it was actually a mehendi refil. One that beautiful girls can neatly apply to their little hands and dance with joy! I got to know that my sister had used that earlier.
It wasnt finished.
Mom didnt want to throw it away.
She didnt want to bother abt it too.
So she transferred the burden onto the fridge!

Stacked amidst a heap of broken pieces of ginger and bits of cashew nut or something, i managed to dig out a small packet of chocolates.
When I asked mom who gave them, she replied that it was by a visit by one of Dad's friends. And then the talk went to that gentleman's sons, who were studying abroad, then onto my higher study plans.
And I had already finished two of those delicious chocolates by then.

As I investigated further, I chanced upon some packets of amul cheese.
They were not even opened.
I asked why?
Mom said cheese wasnt good for her or dad's health. She had stocked them for me and my sister when we would come home.
Then the talk went to how I must eat good food. On what i am eating now.....am i eating oily stuff after my jaundice attack 1 year back.

My little sister also wanted to practice being a mom.

She began her sermon on why chikoo was better than mango or strawberry, when I had only casually mentioned that I drink fruit juices in office.

Anyway...i was simply enjoying the process of discovery of the fridge.
There was some leafy kind of vegetable stacked inside. I enquired what it was........

Oh! Had i triggered a storm??
That reminded mom!!
That was supposed to be made into a slimy green paste and given to me along with a glass of milk in those old jaundice days some prehistoric months ago!!!
"Hey u have to take that,for immunity from jaundice"


I managed to convince mom that i dont need all that stuff now! That I was fit, hale and hearty.....
She agreed......!!!!
But asked me not to throw that vegetable away. "Will come handy in case u fall ill.....", she was already laughing ( a sign that u neednt take seriously what mom said)

I rummaged through the scores of vessels containing things. Didnt find anything interesting
When i am on a holiday at home, i give in to this crazy habit of mine, that i ve coined as "total food"!!

I keep munching something or the other the whole day.
A chocolate, a cheese slice....then a sip of Fanta, some other crazy things like wafers and nuts.....every 15 minutes or so.
So even now, just after lunch, i was hunting for something to bite upon.

Then my eyes fell on a packet of resins. And i popped some of them.
I also stocked them in a secret egg location on the fridge door, so that i can reach them for every day of this week, before they are used up in cooking by mom.

There were also some fruits........and wait......the entire vegetable market in the 2 and 3rd shelves of the fridge!!!

I dare not touch them!
I could trigger an avalanche!!!!!!!!!

Okay...i was more or less done.
I closed the fridge door.
And now scanned the top of the fridge.
This area has been converted to a mini museum by mom.
It stacks all the cards that we ve sent home over the last one year.........her birthday- 2 Cards: one that I had sent and one that my sister had sent.

I saw the card that my sister gave and made sure that my card was better.

Dad's birthday cards

Parent's wedding anniversary cards..
All of the last 2 years...they were all there.

And then the discussion veered off into which aunty gave which gift to mom during which wedding, and what mom gave to them. 

I was bored. The two ladies in the house were gossiping!

There were also some loaves of bread that were yet to be opened. They provided the "logistical" support to the cards that were stacked against them.
And the position of these cards keeps changing everyday...
No guessing why? We eat lots of bread for breakfast ;-)

Oh!!
I forgot to introduce you to Allwyn.
Well he is the refridgerator, i mean the fridge i was talking about!!!!

And just incase u were triggerred into suspense by the subject line, then a little more explanation follows!

Allwyn is or rather was a brand of refridgerators that seemed to rule the roost in the early 1990s.
It was a good brand.
However i guess its gone out of the market completely.

But it still remains at our home!!!!!!!!!
And what a way it does so ;-)

Cheers

KettleMaster!

LOL! What the hell!

Moms & Touchscreens

One of the most fascinating observations in life is asking your mom to use your touch-screen phone.

Or better still: buying her a new touch-screen phone and demonstrating it for her use.

Moms are cute.

Most moms of our generation did not grew up with internet and email, leave alone Facebook, Twitter et all.

They hardly had opportunities to explore computers and stuff, and most took up jobs that did not provide them opportunities to learning technology. 

Using a mobile phone is more of a cautious act for most moms.
Green button: Pick up call.

Red button: Cut call.

Dial number, press green.
Done.

Many moms still wouldnt fully get the idea of a contacts search, so they maintain a separate diary of all their phone numbers.

So now imagine giving mom a touch screen phone!

OMG!

Here is what happened when I tried to teach mom to use a touch-screen phone.

For one, she didnt understand what a screen was doing inside a phone.

I had to explain that screen was different from the computer and TV screens.

"So why 'touch' screen?? i dont like all this 'touch-gich' and all. All that is in bad movies", she exclaimed to me.

Ok. I had the patience. I told her to call it "Button-less" phone.

She reluctantly agreed.

"So when a call comes, just press this button", I explained to her how to receive a call.

I should have used the word 'touch' instead of 'press'.

Because mom almost demolished the phone in trying to 'press' the button on the touch-screen.

She pressed it like a door-bell and felt weird seeing what was happening.

Well obviously!

I looked in horror as an area of the touch-screen faded away into a blend of liquid crystals.

"Mom! Are u kidding me??? Just touch it maa..., not really press it", I exclaimed.

"It is touch screen na maa....", I cajoled her again.

She is my mom after all....I cant be rude to her.

Ok patience. I told myself to be patient.

I actually let mom explore the phone herself.

"How to make a call?" she asked.

I told her to touch a button.

She tried.

Nothing happened.

I told her to touch 'this button", as I pointed to the 'Call" button.

She tried.

Again nothing happened.

I was surprised. 

I demoed it again.

It worked for me.

Mom tried again. Nothing happened.

But I had worn her glasses now and had tried to see what happens when mom presses that button.

Apparently mom was not touching the screen at all now.

I asked her "why??" 

She was like "its not a button. if i press it, you will scold"

Oh my cute maa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I gave her a hug and told her to chill.

She laughed.

I explained to her about calling.

If Steve Jobs were to come up with new touchscreen iPhones and iPads, I think he should make a version for all Moms.

And call them 'Dont press too hard-iPhone' and "Dont press too hard -iPad"

Finally, I told her to scroll down to see all contacts.

"Scroll where??", mom asked as she looked at the floor.

Moms are so cute!

I told her to think of the phone as my head.

And that i had got a headache.

Now i told her to imagine that she was applying some Amrutanjan or pain balm

Lo!! Mom was now scrolling contacts!!

- Its Me!

Wierdo Indian Habits

There are many that we can all think of, but I will start with these 3

1. Indian women and their mixies

Have u ever observed your mom turn on the mixie in the kitchen? One hand will operate the electric on/off knob.

The other? It goes right on top of the mixie container's lid.

My mom says it is to make sure that the contents of the mixie dont fall off!

Give me a break! If the mixie was designed to throw the contents out of the mixie while running it, it would never be called a mixie!

PS: when I ran the mixie, i also put my hand on the lid. i feared that if the contents actually spilled out, i wudnt be able to write this blog! 

2."5 Minutes please"

Go anywhere in India. If people cannot attend to you immediately or they dont want to attend to you, there is a standard answer "5 minutes please"

Does everyone know how long is 5 minutes?

Why is it always '5'? Why not '7 minutes sir' ?

You know whats worse?

Ya you know it.."One minute..i ll get back to you"

Damn you! If you could do something in 60 seconds, I wouldnt be talking to you.

3.Queues

Queues are meant to put people in a line.

A straight line that is.

In India, the queues go horizontally.

If its ur turn, u will have the person behind you, waiting by your side and eager for u to finish. No privacy nothing.

Its like if your turn is about to come next, you HAVE to stand right next to the person ahead of you.

Such enthusiasm!

Tell me more such hilarious habits you find amongst us all!

My Elevator Pitch

Morning rush is an extreme event. Especially if you are staying in a tall multistoreyed apartment.

Matters get complicated when everyone on every floor is chasing the same set of elevators to stop at their floor. And nobody has time, everybody is running late.

This morning, I got into the elevator on the 15th floor.

Like everyone of the 5 other people inside already, we all wanted to reach the ground floor, and we wanted the elevator to zip through.

The doors closed.

We felt like falling under gravity, when it stopped on the 8th floor.

2 guys walked in. They both had black coats.

The doors closed.

The elevator went down further. When it stopped on the 6th floor.

A blonde American lady walked in. She was wearing large spectacles. She was wearing a leopard skin coat. I felt like calling up PETA. She stood a picture of calm amidst a bunch of mostly agitated co-passengers.

The doors closed.

The 6 of us who had been on tour a few minutes longer than the latest guests had just one thing in our minds: "God! Show us the ground floor fast!"
And the elevator stopped again. This time on the 3th floor.

There was nobody there.

Some folks were getting impatient.

One lady scorned in anger, "Oh come on!!"

The doors closed.

But wait. As soon as they were closing, a hand flew in and just obstructed its path.

The way elevators are made today: they open up again.

"Sorry!!", said the guy as he stopped the door for his room-mate to come in too.

15 seconds more.

People were now crammed.

If there were no rules for civility, I think this guy and his room-mate would be made prisoners of war.

Actually we were all prisoners in this elevator.

The doors closed.

Ok now, we just wanted 'Ground floor'. Nothing else would do!!!

One of the guys was trying to shake the floor of the elevator with this feet hoping that the shining hair of the blonde in front would fall on his face. It didnt work though.

The elevator zoomed further down.

And stopped again.

This time at the 2nd floor.

One Indian lost it and began abusing to himself in chaste Tamil.

This time, a small little girl of about 8 years came in with her dog.

Aww! Everyone was confused in their emotions.

Small little girl? how cute

The dog?...Really?

One gentleman took off his spectacles in resignation. I think he had decided not to go to office now.

I think another fellow almost started crying.

The women (3 of them excluding the little girl) were quiet. I think they were anxious and praying that none of the men in the lift break open the elevator walls in anger.

The doors closed.

And finally it reached the ground floor.

We let the little girl go out first. Then her dog.

Then there was a stampede!!