Deja voooo!

The years have passed, and I am away from home longer and longer. From visiting
every month during college days, to once every few months while on the job, this time it
has almost an year and half.

As I pack stuff, this post is a reminder of things to do and not to do when I get there.
Away from my usual carefree life.

a) Being multilingual is good, but speaking anything other than your
mother tongue with someone you just met is inviting trouble. Well I have three, english, hindi and malayalam in that order. Couple of others I am still learning. :)
More so when you are putting your point across to a relative. And absolutely no swearing in any foreign language.
b) No credit card slips around. Explaining a 200$ phone bill to your mom is well.... avoidable. And seeing slips billed at three cities which are far apart and never ever mentioned is sure to cause high BP for everyone. I am good at avoiding
conflict. :)
c) Staying out after 11:30 pm is unsafe. Well when will they ever know nothing is as peaceful
as being on a lonely beach till 3:00am? :P
d) Driving long distance is dangerous, take a bus. No I have never made driven more than 800 kms at a time and I am really scared of driving up mountains. Bused have accidents too and topple over all the time and you don't get seat belts in them is my view though. :)
e) A lacoste polo or a tommy is not respectable clothing. Get some nice white or blue drab (yuck!) shirts when you get there, if you want to avoid stares from the oldies.
f) All software engineers work outside Kerala. So there is no concept of an underpaid, overworked software engineer, communism is only for farmers. Don't crib about your salary.The second most common question is your pay, either you avoid the question or try some arithmetic on your salary (I mean division) before you mention it, unless you want to see signs of heart trouble or an end of conversation.
g) Waking up after 9:00 is not good. Over here my roommates think I am addicted to waking up at 6:00 am, I love sleeping, but bugs start coming in my dreams and wake me up early. :(
h) This is a new one, Thou shall drive on the left side of the road. Though shall not believe a green signal gives thou right of way. :)
i) Replace the nouns on the phone with more respectable names. Some numbers are there only because I can choose not to answer them. If this breaks a reader's heart, ha ha I just got even now.


Some more are there, but there is still more packing to do, maybe I will add when I remember.