1. It was early morning and we were about to enter into Chennai. My friend opened the window to ask a man in a lungi about the location:

“How far is Chennai, from here, Sir?”

“How much Chennai do you need? In a typical condescending Tamilan attitude, as a villager living on the outskirts of the city, he replied in a tone that had all four of us cracking up with laughter and tears in eyes and I might be exaggerating about the tears for the comic effect but it was natural situational comedy and I played the interpreter for them telling them that the person actually meant :

“As you’re already in Chennai, why the heavens do you ask for further directions?”

Or

“Which place do you want to go to in Chennai.”

His using “how much” instead of “Where” converted it into a joke for us. As all four of us were from North India and expected him to be fluent in English.

That might also be an exaggeration.

Actually: I found most of my colleagues and shopkeepers in Thiruvanmiyur R. t. O. Region had their own typical accent and they rarely cared for Grammar.

As I used to share my mails with them asking for the feedback: they used to say I was using too difficult words and they had to open a dictionary to grasp my posts.

Now I feel they were kidding.

But it’s too late now. That ship has sailed.

I used words like:

1. Quirky

2. Whimsical

3. Onomatopoeia

4. Insouciant

5. Contemplative

6. Obfuscation

7. Metempsychosis

8. Thanatose

9. Blabberwockying

10. Synchronicity

They were pretty regular words and yet to avoid my emails as well as to look down upon me: they used to say that I was using too complex vocabulary. They insisted on me reading Sydney Sheldon while I preferred watching movies like Waking Life by Richard Linklater and Inception by Nolan.

2. I am using Spotify application now. It’s possible to continue writing while listening to music now. I need an earplug now as this one has one of its bud dysfunctional. Lockdown limits my going out in search of an earphone shop and it’s scorching Sun these days. Hence I wait for an opportunity.

3. I had a brief discussion on phonemes and morphemes with a young man in my neighborhood. I introduced him to conspiracy theories.

Bilabial labalab labdanum numbat

Bilateral raillery leery rye

Numdah howdah dahlia iambee

Beeswax esophageal squamous moustache

Must ache achene chenrezig

Zigzag ziggurat ratbaggery philomel.

Time taken: 30 minutes aoo