tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758291501188741092024-03-04T20:35:17.976-08:00MAIDAGASCARteenauthorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10320867327988895995noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-375829150118874109.post-3552359406154999522009-10-04T08:18:00.000-07:002010-12-25T10:48:29.715-08:00INTRO.....<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIEsQ47hDWsrGxp849Yq8WZPuFi4KNg2JYcqWNexGBMFRyOPPc7YAySZhGx4hZKDxBXvOcZ8y9uQ8zHnQBs_hB0WHS69QKzFVGePPUTPh-RgWPCLMLYBMQ1Lp9EAx4WKsb9Cm3KVJB4FE/s1600-h/8828_144586712821_609482821_2570591_7556295_n.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 208px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIEsQ47hDWsrGxp849Yq8WZPuFi4KNg2JYcqWNexGBMFRyOPPc7YAySZhGx4hZKDxBXvOcZ8y9uQ8zHnQBs_hB0WHS69QKzFVGePPUTPh-RgWPCLMLYBMQ1Lp9EAx4WKsb9Cm3KVJB4FE/s320/8828_144586712821_609482821_2570591_7556295_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389857189745947698" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">So, people, here we are..... a trio, filled with life, and the desire to write, and express ourselves, to the BIG BIG world out there (er... wasn't it supposed to be small world..). </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We started writing soon after our Board exams, and I must confess, that was the best time we guys have ever had. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It was especially more important, because of the fact that one of us was going away to college, not that we detested it, after all, not everyone gets into the SRCC! But then again, life goes on. The Second Musketeer is soon joining her at SRCC (but i'm sure it'll be Stephen's), while the Third aspires to become an engineer. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Writing is a passion for each one of us, and writing these particular "snippets" gave us the joy of our lives. We hope you, as a reader also like them. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">With high hopes, </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Signing off,</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">ACR</span></span></div>teenauthorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10320867327988895995noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-375829150118874109.post-23971714315643571682009-10-04T08:10:00.000-07:002009-10-07T06:50:38.002-07:00AUTHORS' NOTE<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR5Mh1LKK0yv5Q8zIeMrWvvpaeo129wXYSvupjfLj5s7B3rB9CkcWuy9Plv4JidTYo1BYCEzYOla0jByDACpWlEBGtf_aNCQOSouBUe_-l48-4ST4HTwNpoOEJVkXqPsFLCubaEl1gGh8/s1600-h/05_India_4456.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR5Mh1LKK0yv5Q8zIeMrWvvpaeo129wXYSvupjfLj5s7B3rB9CkcWuy9Plv4JidTYo1BYCEzYOla0jByDACpWlEBGtf_aNCQOSouBUe_-l48-4ST4HTwNpoOEJVkXqPsFLCubaEl1gGh8/s320/05_India_4456.gif" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388633277373549138" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><br /></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">AUTHORS’ NOTE</span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">As authors, we do not wish to criticize or jest any maid. This story is only for entertainment purposes. A topic which would probably appeal to most people with m</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">aids, this story was written partly on personal experiences.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"> </span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">However, we would like to point out that our world is sustained only because of maids and domestic help. These people are the backbone of any household. We realize their importance only when they go on leave, or leave for good. Whatever the case, respect them, and they’ll work with heart. This, we spe</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">ak from experience.</span></span></p>teenauthorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10320867327988895995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-375829150118874109.post-78507576694583692872009-10-04T08:09:00.000-07:002009-10-07T06:51:55.417-07:00PROLOGUE<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">MAIDAGASCAR</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:200%"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:200%"><u><o:p><span style="text-decoration:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span></o:p></u></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:200%"><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Prologue</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></u></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:200%"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:200%"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It had been a boring day so far. With the rain Gods showing no mercy at all, the outdoors had been washed over by the ragged stream. This rain-frenzy had driven Rishi, Arsh and Chetan into “hibernation” into their homes, a recluse they seldom visited but for the meals and their short nocturnal “slumbers”. The trio had exhausted every possible avenue of entertainment, be it baking cakes, cooking pasta (trust me, no tomatoes, please!), Orkutting, Facebooking, and even (sigh!) writing a novel. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">With the rain showing no signs of taking a recess break, boredom had engulfed the room.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The empty Pepsi bottles and boxes of Dominoes pizzas, accompanied with the ever scintillating Pink Floyd music made the atmosphere drowsy.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“We could do </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">something</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, guys, instead of just lazing around the room sluggishly like leaches,” said a bored Arsh. “Yeah, like going to the loo and washing down those pizzas and Pepsis. I’m game for that,” chimed Rishi. </span></span><span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“Hey guys,” piped in Chetan, “why don’t we all tell stories. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We can choose a topic, and then start telling stories. It’ll be fun. Why don’t you start, Rishi, you’ve got the wildest tales, with an unusual snappish humour!.”</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“Oh, now that you do mention it, I had this maid, who……………………………………”</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><o:p> </o:p></p>teenauthorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10320867327988895995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-375829150118874109.post-44986807516797251002009-10-04T08:04:00.000-07:002009-10-06T11:29:10.433-07:00ONE<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;font-size:small;"><p align="center" style="text-align: center; margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;font-size:small;"></span></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><p align="center" style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"></span></p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><blockquote></blockquote><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrowPyWMynq-Pz-F2wV69zf0zJgA_JgKBErDwJNjDPeIkx5Njd8fUtIQwuK_E_YNp6lo7cQcq4-sxZZPwKOenVtJj6qVA2cRj9TThVlmRpWOiFzWejo1dVRe81NUz0ZIR_iXpVy5ChESY/s320/jdun341l.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 232px; height: 320px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389004379628502546" /><div style="text-align: center;">ONE</div></span><p></p><p align="center" style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p align="center" style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p align="center" style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span></span></span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Rishi Baboo, doodh pee lo</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">.” Lying in the blanket, I felt my olfactory lobes protesting against that strong, pungent garlic smell, which seemed to be radiating from my maid, Meenakshi, a.k.a Meenu.”</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 12pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">FLASHBACK. I remember the hot summer day when Banto started devel</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 12pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">oping a big bump on her tummy (fine! I was just a kid; how was I to know that she was actually two persons, not just one!). Mum and Dad were trying their best to find another suitable maid, as this “specie” was coming closer to the verge of extinction with every passing day. I guess we were fortunate enough to lay our hands on one in the first place.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 12pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 12pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I soon started to jumped to conclusions about her appearance as that of an ideal maid. Sigh! But my “dreams” were short-lived. As Meenakshi entered the portals of her new workplace, my vocabulary failed when it came to describing her “geographical topography.”</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 12pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“Dude, this is your seventh pack of chewing gum. You’re addicted to it or what?” cut in Arsh.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 12pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“Screw you, woman. You’re taking away all the excitement in reciting a tragedy, even Shakespeare’s Macbeth would be proud of,” I continued. “I thought I was in a basketball court, only I had shrunken in size, as the “basketball” just seemed to be so much bigger than me. And her hands? Ha! The spades of her hands made her appear as the “queen of spades”. Maybe the dwarf hormone in her barrel-like structure was a wee bit too over-ambitious. The chocolate cake of her face wore an apologetic and</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">apparently red </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">sindoor</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> which hardly seemed to be in contrast with her complexion. And her dressing sense was undeniably a fashion catastrophe. She wore a drab grey </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">salwar-kameez, </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">and literally too! I mean, guys, who wears a men’s shirt with a </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">salwar</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">! But what struck my eyes as most appalling was the pair of Nike shoes she had donned, possibly the first “fake” pair of Nikes I had ever laid my eyes on (or were they!). </span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Well, that’s Meenu for you.”</span></span></span></p><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;"><div style="text-align: left;"> </div></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"></span><p></p>teenauthorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10320867327988895995noreply@blogger.com0