Beach fun, pun intended

A trip to the beach is always so much fun, so I happily drove to Marina with couple of friends. Walking lazily barefoot in the sand, eating hot bajjis.. My friends took a spin on the merry-go-round, I feared I would puke, so I steered away from them.

Soon I struck a conversation with the verkadala vendor akka, she called me annan though – which I think was more out of respect than for my appearance! If you ever get to the lighthouse end of the beach, say a Hi! to Sengini. She serves the best verkadala & manga – a combination which I love.

By the time I said bye and promised to visit her again, my friends arrived – slightly dazed from their ride and was curious to my hobnobbing. I introduced my friend and his pregnant wife to her. After a brief chat as we left, the vendor offered a kilimuku manga as a gift to her! We were all touched by her action and thanked her generously and moved on.

Or last stop was this ‘Shooting Balloons’ game.. Rs. 20 for 10 pellets. My friend got 7 balloons, his wife just 3. Finally it was my turn, by then we had established a rapport with the lad. Sorry, I am not going to introduce him to you. The cheek he had!

You may be surprised to know, that I’m actually a pretty decent shooter for beach game standards. I had the 1st, 2nd and 3rd balloons in 3 pellets. He nudged me and said “Sir! Fluke sir!” I just smiled and continued aiming, I flunked on the 4th. Actually it was just bad luck, the pellet just bounced off the balloon without bursting.

“Sir! Naan sonnen la!” his grin echoed in my ears, that was it for me. I glared at him angrily and quickly shot 6 in quick succession not taking my eyes of the colorful balloons. My friends jumped into a victory leap like I had just won the Olympics gold, it sure felt so to me!

I turned to him and roared “Ippa enna solra?” and I should have just walked away majestically with my head held high, but as a last retort I lied “Naan entha station theriyuma?” For which the lad quickly said “…………… stationa sir?” Now why would I share that with you?

Haven’t I lost face enough? I hung my head in shame and did not look back and walked away, my friends laughing running after me. The cheek he had!