On a trip to my friend M's place in Cochin back when we were in college, I became mildly obsessed with learning how to read Malayalam (don't ask), and with some help from M and her cousins, I somehow managed to learn the script. The obsession lasted for several more months. In order to practice my reading, every time M went back home, I'd ask her to bring me a copy of the Malayala Manorama, something she'd invariably forget to do.

Until one monday morning, having just returned from Kerala, M said to me, "I haven't forgotten this time. In fact, I brought you two!" Excited, I opened the cover only to be confronted by a very fat, topless Mallu woman. Poor M, thoroughly embarrassed said "Well, at least now I know why the other passengers were giving me strange looks!" She had quite innocently bought me a couple of Mallu porn magazines. Heh. These I certainly did not want to read. M & I tore 'em up into little pieces and chucked them in the dustbin (but not before the boys in class had had a dekko).

Oh, college was so much fun. Been trying to learn Nastaliq/Urdu these days (incredibly difficult, but I persevere), which is what triggered above recollection.