There were only two pieces of Starburst Fruit Chews left. One was the perky green flavour, the other, a sharp purple one. I've never bothered to check what I have eaten, as long as it tastes good.

But there were three of us. And although Cheeru insisted he had had enough of the delicious candy, Maddy decided to share some of his. When Maddy brought it out of the wrapper, what appeared was a distorted purple candy - because it had melted in the heat and had been refrigerated again. Cheeru, quite naturally, did not realize that the candy had not been split when Maddy had offered it to him expecting him to break it in half, and share the remaining.

As Maddy and I watched, Cheeru popped the candy right into his mouth and started munching it.. and Maddy let out a loud shriek 'Har-aa-ami !'.

Maddy is this nice little kid whose grown up speaking Telugu. When left to himself, he'll be beside the television, watching his favourite Nagarjuna movie or a recast of the last Australia vs Bangladesh cricket match. The biggest swear word we had heard from his mouth till today was 'Shit'. Cheeru and I agree that we have a promising effect on people. But so soon, was least expected.

Quite naturally, Cheeru nearly choked on his candy when he heard Maddy's shriek. I confirmed what I had heard, and Maddy quite proudly told us that he has no clue what the word meant, but liked the sound of it. Cheeru patted him on his back, as Maddy pondered over the repercussions. Cheeru told him that it literally means 'To every man (har), his mango (aam)'.

And he thinks Maddy believed that ?!

Later this evening, we headed to T-Nagar to say Bye to Pharaoh Ramses. We met up at Mansukh's sweets on Ramaswami Street, and although Pondy and myself had stuffed ourselves on the brilliantly prepared Club sandwich at Hot Chips, we proceeded to order a Basundhi and Shrikhand. Which was, of course, delighting.

Cheeru was kinda feeling low and we sauntered off to get him a tablet. There were two things that I observed while searching for a medicine shop in T-Nagar. There is only one chemist, and it is next to the massive Nalli Silks showroom. And its probably closed on Sundays.

The other thing is that being the Doorman at The Chennai Silks looked like a most interesting job. For one, he gets to sit at the door all day and enjoy their super-duper cold air-conditioner. Second, he gets to hold the door for the prettier women of Chennai. Now, how many men are THAT fortunate ?

Pondy and I didn't get the tablet. But we offered to get Cheeru his curd rice dinner, after bidding Ramses a farewell interspersed with warm hugs. Back in Adyar, its a pity that none of the better restaurants stock Cheeru's favourite dish. Sangeetha did not have it, Coronet's didn't list it on their menu, and the man at the counter at Hotel Runs thought we were mad.. It dawned on us that we could prepare the rice, but we wouldn't get curd at that hour. Thankfully, there's this little place called Ganga Mari Mess, near the Kun Honda Showroom, that serves stuff on a made-to-order basis.

Cheeru's dinner was sorted. So Pondy and I headed to his place for dinner. Got treated to fantastic food prepared by his maid, Mary. I guess Adyar is swelling with these housekeepers who help us bachelors get by. They have been a contributing factor in making Chennai the wonderful place it is.