The Kinis

Had always wondered why I never ever mentioned my family in any of my posts inspite of them being the craziest,coolest and most special bunch I have ever come across in my life...so..This post is a tribute to them !
;-)

Born to my mom and dad,I was not a very likeable kid..I still am not but that's besides the point....I have a younger sis with an age gap of around 2 years and a brain gap of a gazillion ! We are still the epitome of the perfect elder-bro and younger-sis combo..best illustrated when she says "Mom,It's ur son on the line !" when i call home !!

We never did see eye-to-eye on any matter (we still dont !) least of all,about the channel playing on TV...fights broke out regularly ever since i can remember and insults flew to and fro that were difficult to understand for the novice watcher...
"Go to hell and die !!!" was a familiar line when we were younger(the logic being it was more painful to have experienced hell first and then dying !!)...I have calmed down a bit now...I just say "DIE !!"
She has since completed her MCA and now works for an MNC IT-product company in blore..and is doing pretty well at her job is what i gather from 3rd-party neutral sources(read-My Mom)

Mr.Kini Senior was born in 1944...the youngest kid among 4(2+2 combo we call them-2 male and 2 female) he was the apple of his siblings' eyes ! his dad(my grandad) was a civil judge and was used to being transferred all round the southern states..so my dad spent most of his childhood in hostels...did his PG in organic chemistry after a brief stint at a bank (!!!) and then apped for his PhD at IIT Madras...(aaaha ! now you know why he agreed when i said "i want to do my MBA at IITM" !!)..halfway thru his Phd he quit..why ? he didnt see eye-2-eye with his guide...and there's not one day my mom doesnt make that point "You are Sant Tukaram's reincarnation now ! and you couldnt stop yourself once !!!I would have been a Mrs.Doctor now otherwise !!!";-)

Mrs.Kini(unfortunately no doctor there) -born youngest daugther in a 3+3 combo...to a revenue inspector and smartest-lady-i-have-ever-met ! did her graduation in pyschology and can accurately predict what her offspring is thinking at any given point of time ! Started working at a bank (it was a given at that time that a GSB was to join a bank after graduation irrespective of her subject of interest !) two days after she graduated and was at it for 22 years !

Meanwhile they had gotten married(1977),been in delhi for 5 years,watched their first soccer match together!! ( yup,my dad took my mom to a soccer match the first time they went out after marriage !) brought in 2 brats into this world,been to saudi arabia for 5 years(we were in blore with our mom while our dad spent 5 years there) and did a pretty fantastically awesome job of turning their kids into mature sane people !

Both of them are happily retired and their life currently revolves round the marriage of their daughter...which brings me to our support structure...our family on both sides...

First up..lemme emphasize..My dad's family is the perfect ante-theses to my Mom's family...

They are sane,down-to-earth,mature people who believe in the gandhian way of life...no..they really do !even to this day...

On the other hand,If there was one family that even remotely resembles the italian mafia-well...It's my Mom's family !!

3 bros and 3 sisters...the kochikar pai's ruled bangalore ! pally with the city's intellectual elite,the police commisioners,the politicians,etc in kumara park,blore...The earliest memory of that house is one of a dog beneath my cradle snarling at the maid since she "tried to discipline" a "kid" of the family ! ;-)

In later years i got to know my mom's relatives a lot more simply bcos my dad was abroad..

Summer vacations were spent usually in madras or mangalore...where the cousin count usually exceeded 15 ! Mangalore was 'THE' place as far as we were concerned..it was an awesome feeling to hear people u dont even know talk in a language u usually associate with being spoken at home...the youngest maternal uncle(a bachelor at the time is still a style icon for most of us) was the perfect host...he never bothered us and let us do whatever we wanted as long as we were willing to be responsible about it...i learnt a lot during those days...brinsg back nice memories...i also remember having seen sholay rereuns around 15 times (in a week !!!) and the beach for us beach-hungry people from the plains was a mannah from heaven !

The most influential member amongst my Mom's siblings is my aunt..together with my Mom they strike terror in the hearts of all eligible bachelors from our community ! her 3 sons and I are obviously out of the net...but not for long i hear...having retired from active service a few years back they sincerely beleive that their primary duty now is to get eligible bachelors married to eligibile bachelorrettes..in other words "their pastime" !!!!!!!

They are currently on the lookout for "a suitable boy"for my sis and i grin at her misery while she fumes like a steam engine !
;-)

Marriages and pujas are becoming very common now that most of us cousins have grown up and are doing pretty well for ourselves(CFO in an IT MNC,green card holder/s,infy billionaire being just a few examples)..but i know i will be summarily thrashed if i miss even a single one of them and met with a lotta hugs and kisses everytime i make it home-both at the same time...

So..thanks guys...and thanks people..YOU ARE THE COOLEST !!

LIVE !!

Have been decently jobless in the last few days after our phase-1 app went live a few days back...

So....Please go here if you are a Hutch postpaid subscriber in delhi and enjoy the thrill of raising unlimited service requests ..

Ofcourse you dont get to hear cute-sounding girls which you would if you were calling their contact centre, but it would give me immense satisfaction if you used this method instead...Not much of a bargain,i know...but still...
;-)