Tell Tale Eyes

Seeing those beautiful eyes in Peeve's blog here , I couldn't resist posting this poem about eyes.

Tell Tale Eyes

Trying to look interested

I smile my best smile

My wandering eyes say I'm bored,

My eyes just won't lie.

Trying to show I'm awake

At the lecturer I smile

My drooping eyes say I'm asleep,

My eyes just won't lie.

Trying to control laughter

I hide it behind my smile

My twinkling eyes show all the mirth,

My eyes just won't lie.

Trying to cover my worry

Nervously I smile

My fretful eyes divulge the fear,

My eyes just won't lie.

Trying to mask my sadness

I try my best to smile

My blinking eyes let slip a tear,

My eyes just won't lie.

Trying to fool those around

I smile and I smile

Oblivious to the fact that,

My eyes just won't lie.

Figments of a distant past...Or a really beautiful dream

Some random beautiful memories from my childhood which are so vague that I cannot put a time or place on it , but so clear that I can feel and smell the memory . May be a dream or a deja vu or a   figment of distant past.

1)Walking over crackling dry leaves into a cluster of trees to look for the mate of a  yellow bird( called by folk lore as Shiva –Parvathi bird.) because if I spot a pair,I can make a wish..

2)Placing my feet in the cold green water and watching the tiny  fishes swim by. Getting in to the pond one step at a time, taking care not to slip.

3) The combination of  exhilaration and fear  when the swing reaches the leaves of the jack fruit tree and the smell of  leaves and fruits.

4)Watching the clouds lying down on the slanting parapet of my house and  contemplating what shape they are..making castles in the air.

5)A small brown myna flying away after pecking at and eating a roasted groundnut from  my palms.

6)Running to the temple with a 25p or a 50 p coin to after the balloon seller to buy an apple balloon.

7)Walking on a compound wall precariously to pluck jambakkas from a tree and then looking for some else below to catch those  before I can get down.

 8)That weird feeling of feet not touching the ground when the giant wheel at the pooram exhibition gains speed.

 9)Walking among the bushes to collect mehndi leaves and the smell of fresh green mailanji on the hands.

10)The sound of an old voice telling the story of Devi mahatmyam where brahma, Vishnu and Shiva see the whole universe in Devi's toe nail.

11)The feeling of being one with nature after being completely drenched from the dancing in the rain in the safety of a naalukettu or courtyard inside the house.

Ten Facts about Minneapolis Metro Transit

Being without a drivers license in a foreign country , I am forced to use the public transport system to commute to work. After reading this blog about the public transport in India , felt like writing one about my experiences with the metro transit.

Metro Transit Facts :

#1 You will never be without a seat on a bus.

Till this date , I have never ever been without a seat in any of the metro transit buses. The trains may be ,  but the buses always have plenty of seats. In fact I have even had the whole bus to myself once or twice.

#2 Always have exact money to pay.You cannot buy a ticket unless you have exact change, but most drivers will let you have the benefit of the doubt and give you the ticket , once or twice  even if you don't have it. But it does get you a lot of stares from around the bus  (This applies only if there are people in the bus).

#3 If some one asks about your job , avoid the usual techno jargon like programmer , software  etc , Better still avoid the word software altogether and say that you work for

 so and so employer. With huge recession fears looming, you don't want people staring at you like you stole their job from them.

#4 There are weirdo vaynokkis in every land. I even had to endure a guy try to talk to me about cricket (duh!)  and he was not an Indian or Pakistani.

#5 The other women you see on the bus are either dressed like sluts or women in their fifties talking about their grand children.Exceptions are few and far between mostly being Asian women with multiple children or Indian software engineers who sleep till their destination is reached. Men who are not in their fifties or sixties are usually dressed in jeans that look like they are held up only by virtue of static electricity and over sized t shirts.

#6 If you want to make polite conversation with fellow passengers , stick to safe topics like weather (What crappy weather today) or angst at approaching winter . Family questions are a strict no.

#7. Sometimes , your bus might stop for a disabled person and if it does , be assured that your connection bus will be gone , for in this country disabled people on wheel chair get royal treatment. (Made me feel sorry for the same category in India where they are just bound to be pushed off by the huge rush of people in the bus stop.

#8 If  you see some one who is carrying many leaflets , act fast asleep , for the person is most probably  a zealous follower of some church who will talk to you for hours about joining them which will make you fall asleep anyway.

#9 Expect public displays of affection. If you are embarrassed by it , feigning sleep is the best option , but believe it or not , I have seen worse in Indian trains.

#10 Know exactly where to get down. Do not expect the driver or the fellow passengers to be able to help you because , 9 out of 10 times they won't know and even in the odd chance that they do know, they might misunderstand your accent and misdirect you.

Dance Dance Dance........

This was a post I have been wanting to write for the past 2 weeks , but have been postponing it for a while because of household hurries and worklife worries..So here goes..

Flash Back :
1988:(or may be 1989) I'm not really sure. I was 6 year old girl-just like all the other girls of her age.
I spent my time outside playing with friends, going for a ride on my new BSA Champ and watching the only cartoon shows that came on doordarshan.Mom had always wanted her daughter to dance and soon there was a dance teacher knocking the door every saturday and sunday morning.It was soon clear that I did not have any aptitude for dance and the frustration of teacher and student were evident. Soon I started waking up every sunday dreading my dance lesson and crying because I could not watch the mickey mouse
cartoon on doordarshan. Finally my dad who is as interested in the fine arts as an average mallu is in veg food, decided that spending 150 rupees a month on something that made his daughter cry every day was not worth it.Thus ended my brief stint with dance.

Back to Present:

Later in life, I avoided any kind of dance including the mandatory to learn Thiruvathira knowing which is a
necessity in my community unless you want to look like a stupid in your own wedding video(Yep, it is a part of the welcoming ceremony to the groom's home or kudiveppu). I had been content (with a wee bit of envy I must admit) watching my friends perform amazing dances and win prizes in school and college, with my part limited to dressing them up and giving pep talk before the program. With great difficulty and ample help from my grandmother and aunts, I mastered one step of thiruvathira which helped me avoid looking like
a complete fool in the welcome thiruvathira at my husband's place.

Watching the ease with which my hubby's cousins danced , for the first time , I had a burning desire to be like them. To learn the dance. So when I got a chance to take part in an Onam program in Columbus, OH , I jumped on to it and found to my chagrin that to wish to learn is one thing , but having 2 left feet is quite another. Heart aches and body aches and 2 months later , I performed my first ever dance on stage. I wasn't quite so graceful, but it worked out. I could do the right steps.

This made me more ambitious, I wanted to try doing some other types of dance.But I didn't have the confidence to ask anybodyfor a chance as I was quite sure that nobody would have that much patience.
But this year, I gathered up courage and joined my friends for a cinematic dance. It was way difficult at first,
But good friends and a great teacher (who is a good friend too) and a supporting hubby can do wonders I was able to learn it , bit by bit , step by step.

And we put up an amazing show. It felt so happy to be part of such a winning combination that I felt this was the right thing to blog about to co-memorate the other achievement that I'm proud of- that of completing 50 blog posts.

Space , Time and Woman?

I know space. It is that vast empty space that surrounds the earth and other planets. I have a fair idea of time too. Considering how I'm juggling it between the multiple priorities of my life.I think I know space -time as how time relates to space.(You know, I did read or try to read Stephen Hawking's a brief history of Time and about that feline of Schrodinger who dies and does not die at the same time in that black horrible box she was put into.) Feeling pretty pleased with myself now that I still remember all this.But space, time and woman? Woman(!) how is Woman in this picture at all? How is she related to space-time? And then I realized I was thinking about the wrong Space -Time.

Well, space and time are the two primary things that woman needs and most often complains about. I need more space. I  just don't have enough time are the most common refrains in the air.Google told me that somebody called Dorothy Moss has done an extensive study of how space and time affect the life of women in different spheres of their life. Wow. looks like somebody has had a lot of thought about this one.

Every being wants its own share of solitude to think and to be with oneself. (No,. the 7 hours of tired sleep that we get doesn't fall in that category). Most women either ignore or choose to ignore this particular need because of the second part of the equation. -Time. To get that much coveted personal space , one needs to make time. Adjust priorities , household, job or other to have a small niche for self. It is one of the first ingredients to a recipe for happiness. Introspection helps you to develop yourself and improve as a being and fulfil the destiny that was meant for you.

So quit that life of the Schrodinger's cat which is dead and alive at the same time, and serving no purpose whatsoever.Get a little space-time for yourself. Be at peace with yourself and balance the rest of your space-time with renewed vigour.

Crazy Voices

The world is buzzing past me
I hear voices all around
Some talking to me ,
Some about me ,
Yet others about things beyond me
In this cackle of voices,
My voice feeble and tremulous
seldom aired, seldom heard
often self muted by the cacophony
Of the loud and senseless
Closing myself to the blaring noise,
Sit down I did to hear my voice
Only to be deafened
By the my own loud  silence
Thoughts took wings and
flew through clouds
Words rained down
with strength never seen
With no rhyme or reason they flowed
With a purpose of expression bold
Looking down at my pen and paper
scattered with senseless chatter
Realizing that my voice unheard
Had metamorphosed into a written word

The blank Stare

The blank stare
That spoke a thousand words
Of sadness and a heavy heart

The blank stare
That shed a thousand unshed tears
Of loneliness and pain

The blank stare
That asked silently wordlessly
For a friendly helping hand

The blank stare
Unfocused at the distant Horizon
Icy numb and oblivious of the fading reality..

Gloom Day-A windows Fantasy

I know the title sounds suspiciously like doom day. But it is not. It was just was it was- A gloomy boring sad day in the life of a supremely uninterestingly ordinary human being. What made it so ? I have no idea. But as such days usually happens, the day started much much earlier than the time I woke up and this was probably half the reason. Try as I might , I couldn't start myself off and get out of the bed when the 6:00 o' clock alarm or the 6:30 alarm or the 7:00 (this is getting dangerous) alarm blared into my ears. No I had not turned my ears off  overnight , but heavy multitasking had had its toll and I just chose to snooze the repeat alarms. At 8:00 , realizing that I have way too much to do and too little time , rushed to office , with sleepy eyes and a starved stomach only to find that I had a meeting at 9.15 that I missed. 

I started work. Work was going slower than a Windows Vista machine on a 16 bit RAM . My mind just wans't working. It was as though gloom.exe was running a background process on me and sapping all my resources away.I would look for a file and not find it. I would look find something I wanted and then realize that I did not have the rights for it. Nothing was working. I felt so absolutely tired and frustrated.  I wished I could just click a restart button and things would start working again. (What a horribly Microsoftic fantasy).I knew there would be a system crash sooner or later if I didn't check the taskbar and close some of those unwanted processes going on  in my mind. But I just couldn't do it , and soon gloom.exe had other side programs like sadness.exe and selfpity.dll running and soon all I wanted to be was by myself.Even normal processes like coffee.dll and lunch.exe were forgotten. Finally the inevitable happened. All processes ceased because of low CPU and tears.exe started a disk clean up and restart program.

It was defintely lucky that I had no eye make up on that day.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows -My 2cents

I am an unabashed Harry Potter fan. I will read any material that is remotely related to harry potter characters or J .K Rowling. So in case you have not read all of the 7 books , you can stop right here.

I had always wanted to write my 2 cents about the books and how they managed to influence a generation  epic times more than what Enid Blyton was to a generation before . A whole new world where magic is real. A young orphaned wizard hero, a villain who is evil personified and the ultimate triumph of good over  evil. 

What fascinated me most  was the realistic portrayal of characters and the gray shades associated with most of them. Except for Voldemort who is pure black . And it is precisely the gray nature of the characters that brings the ultimate downfall of Voldemort. Snape who loved Lily more than his life and sacrificed himself for the son of her love to whom he shows only hatred.With the Malfoys , who were  opportunistic and power hungry ,Rowling tries to distinguish between misguided and evil.And ultimately it is also Narcissa's love for her son , that saves Harry at the most crucial moment, and Draco's cowardice/fear that makes him not identify Harry and Hermione at the Malfoy Manor. Dumbledore who turns out to be a good man but some one who thinks about the greater good over the life of Harry and someone who made many mistakes when he was younger. 

I like to think that Voldemort was thwarted by Love in the expected and most unexpected quarters.(Snape's Love for Lily, Narcissa's love for their son,Molly's love for her children(she kills his most trusted follower Bellatrix), Harry's love for all the people fighting for him).

The last book is the completion of growing up. Realizing that people are not infallible. Learning to take tough decisions. And the triumph of good over evil.

Salt N Pepper -The satisfaction of a tasty meal..

Watched Salt and Pepper yesterday after being tempted by the yummy mouth watering title song and finding that the movie was avaialble online. It was an enjoyable movie, a story of two lonely souls who find cameraderie in an unlikely phone call  ordering a dosa. Lal and Swetha seem perfectly cast for the title roles and the total absence of super stars makes this movie what it is ... a slice out of the life of some ordinary souls. The script is beautiful. Though I heard a lot about Asif Ali's portrayal, for me , it was the lead pair that made the movie. Maithili was the weak link and her acting left a lot to be desired. All in all , a beatiful meal in itself .

3 Kings-If you have nothing better to do

Happened to watch the movie 3Kings some days back and for want of any other interesting topic, decided to write about it.3 Kings is meant to be a comedy movie which I'm sure had the least portion of its budget towards having a story and a script. The maximum intelligence level expected of any viewer is the ability to understand the jokes from children's books like balarama. The plot and the jokes reminded me of the picture stories that I enjoyed in balarama when I was a kid (Jambanum Thumbanam, Thala maratte, Mayavi ) etc . The cast is the saving grace of the movie with all the lead actors especially Indrajith, Jayasurya and Asokan excelling in comedy and making us feel that many a time the dialogues were on the spot and not from script.

Samvrutha is excellent as a  dumb damsel , while Ann Augustine is the only one not able to look and act dumb.It is worth a one time watch if you have nothing better to do and like to read balarama.

My First Plane Journey

My journey started with the IA flight from Bangalore to Mumbai.I had two heavy suitcases neither of which I cud lift on my own. but luckily the the person at the baggage checkin counter helped me put it on the conveyor belt.After security clearance I had to wait quite some time before the plane finally arrived. It was interesting to note that atleast a third of the passengers had laptops with them.

Once in mumbai , there was the problem of going from the domestic terminal to the international terminal.I waited for myluggage to come.Here a fellow passenger helped me put my luggage on to the trolley.The trolley was much better than the bangalore one.So was able to move it around with ease.

Then I went to the place outside the domestic terminal where the airport's bus which takes passengers to the international terminal comes. There was a huge crowd there. I had to wait as three buses came, got occupied and went. Time was flying and it was already 11:00 .Baggage checkin had already started at the Delta Terminal.It was then that I got acquainted with Archana another H4 visa holderi who was also a passenger in the same plane to paris which I was to board.We became fast friends and luckily we were able to get the next bus to the international terminal.

There I was unlucky to get a defective trolley and had to get the help of an airport staff to get another trolley and put my luggage there for which he even asked a tip.There was a huge queue at the baggage checkin also.Archana turned out to be even more stupid than I was as she didn't even know her husband's address in the US. She had some problem as they as asked her to fill the address on the tag.

I had time then to just call Vinuettan and tell him that I was in mumbai.Also tried unni on mobile but there was no answer.Then after a brief wait , I boarded the flight to paris.It was quite a large flight and as I was exhausted , I fell asleep almost immediatly.When I woke up , they sereved some food which tasted ok.Then , they put a hindi movie 'Socha Na Tha' which was a usual hindi masala movie.The passenger sitting next to me was also an Indian software engineer and he said he was on the same flight to Atlanta as well.

As the plane landed in paris , the skies were very clear and I was able to clearly see the Eifel Tower from above and it is a great sight.Once we landed in paris , there was a bus to take us to the other gate where I had to board the flight to Alanta. As I was getting out of the flight , I was pleasantly surprised to see an Infoscion from my department -a fellow from tvm named shyam walking ahead. I caught up with him and was it turned out that he was travelling to Atlanta on the flight as well.Together we reached the terminal where we were to board the plane.At paris , I lost track of Archana as she had an Air France plane to catch which was at another terminal.The wait in paris was pretty long and I decided to use the international calling card number that vinuettan had given to call from a phone that I saw there. The first time I tried , it started saying something in French. I thought I would give it a try just once more . This time the message from the phone was in English and very clear "You have called the fireman". I didn't wait to hear any more I went and found a place as far from the phone as possible. Just in case some one came and asked who called the fireman.

There was a large queue to board the plane to atlanta and I found that many of the passengers on my previous flight were here too.My neighbour was a french fellow who seemed to wake up only when the drinks were served.He didn't know English and was asking if there was a transalation of the immigration and customs forms in French!!!

As I had booked for Asian Veg meals , I got some Indian food on this flight .This was also a nine hr flight which I almost entirely slept through.Though this flight actually had tv screens at each seat which we could chnage channels, my screen had some problems so could only see the movie that they put. During the flight , one movie which I partly saw when I woke up to take a meal was "Lara Croft Tomb Raider".Then as

Atlanta was nearing , I thought I would fill up the customs and immigration forms. The customs form is rather funny as it puts FoodStuffs,Insects in one option for us to tick in the list of items that we have in our baggage.As I had food stuffs but (hopefully) no insects , I was unsure abt what do do for that.In Atlanta time was only 2 hrs for the next flight and Immigration clearance queue was very long.There were arond 20 counters but it still took around one hr before I got immigration. The guy asked me why I was in Us and I said I was here to meet my husband. He made a big joke about it asking if I had ever met my husband..(ha ha) and then he asked me if I had any food. I said yes. I had banana chips. He laughed and asked if they were as sweet as I was and let me go.

At mumbai , they had told me that though customs and immigration would be at the first port of entry to the US , I could collect my luggage at albany . Just when I was about to find out where to board my next plane, I saw shyam coming with two large suitcases.He told me that even though they had told him that it was thru checkin , it seemed that the baggage had to be collected and put in the other converyor , based on the destination.I rused to where the bagage was coming in the conveyor belt and saw my luggage there. Again I got the help of another fellow passenger and got my stuff on a troley. There was a security clearance after which they told me that as the bag has food , I should go to the agricultural inspector.Time was running fast and I rushed to the agriculutural inspector's queue. They took out each annd every food item .But luckily didn't open anything. I put my luggage in the conveyor belt for my albany plane and then found that I had to take train to reach the Gate of departure. I rushed to the terminal just in time and the person at the plane said that I almost missed my flight'.

The flight to Albany was uneventful except for some chips and nuts that I got to eat which were very tasty.

At albany , I looked everywhere for vinuettan and decided that he had become late..

But just as I claimed my baggage I saw him ,sreechettan and eeshu(sreechettan's son) coming.It seems they had just gone to take the kid to the toilet. And that was the end of the journey....

Quest

To find my way in a lost world
Without a goal or a destination
Aimlessly I trudge and trundle
Still carrying my heavy bundle

Look inside , a voice reasoned,
Why do you live, what do you want,
Follow your heart and not the crowd
The crowd knows not its wants

Stay away from the rat race
To avoid being a rat?
Will I be called a shy mouse
If I keep me to myself

Questions and Confusion
As I embark on my quest
The answers to which
Will be my supreme test

Kite Without a String

I'd strained my ties till they broke,

I knew I 'd just become free,

Nobody could stop me know

I thought in my glee

Realization struck like a mighty blow

That I was all alone

Though At last I was free

The protection was gone.

When in life , we chafe at ties,

Seldome do we know,

Those ties and chains strong with love

Guide us through and through

When at last the chains are gone,

We dance at freedom new,
But like a kite with out a string
Lose our way, we do!

Demystifying the Malayalam Months

Yesterday on my way back home from work, I was stuck with a strange thought process. About months in malayalam calendar and how they were matching to the english zodiac signs.
Kanni was obviusly virgo , the virgin -the meaning was so obvious. Tulam was libra -the thulas or balance  which was the sign for libra.Meenam was of course pisces. It was a bit more difficult to match up others but here they are

Chingam-simham-Leo

Kanni-Kanyaka-virgin-Virgo
Thulam-Thulas-Balance-Libra
Vrishchikam-(Googling got me that it means scorpion in Sanskrit)-Scorpio
Dhanu-Bow-Bow&Arrow-Archer-Sagitarius
Makaram-(this was a difficult one)-(Sanskrit meaning-Sea monster)-(Creature with Goat head and fish body)-Capricorn
Kumbham-Pot-Vessel-Water Carrier-Aquarius
Meenam-Meen-Fish-Pisces
Medam-Mesha-Ram-Aries
Idavam -Just coudn't get this one, the sanskrit one Vrishabham of course coincides with taurus. But Idavam and vrishabam? coun't make any connection.
Midhunam-Couple- Gemini-Twins -May be the constellation was interpreted differently.
Karakatakam-KarKat-sanscrit for crab-Cancer

Then I realised yet another thing. these months were exatcly one month off from the English Sun signs

The Promise

Saranya  looked at the mirror .  Her long waist length hair was shampooed and brown . Her dangling earrings were black metal and she wore not a tiny speck of gold anywhere. Her tiny black chain looked rusty over her faded T shirt. She looked as less traditional as a girl could be. Usually she would have loved this look. But today she hated herself.

A few months back , her look was a constant source of discord within the house. Each time she came down for dinner dressed this way, Sumitra aunty would make her life miserable. She would scold her head off ."Why can't you dress like an Indian girl. Why can't you wear some gold ornaments. It is not that your parents are poor and can't afford any of this." Saranya would ignore here completely and this angered her even more. Saranya's mother tried to make peace. She is here only for a few days and she is here for treatment. You have to be nice to her. And to her credit , she tried , but wearing gold ornaments and traditional clothes were beyond her."I can't wear ornaments just to please somebody". One day a frustrated Saranya shouted , only to find out that Sumitra aunty had overheard. From then on , she never uttered a word.

Months later, Sumitra aunty became weaker and weaker and lost all her hair after treatment. She would look at Saranya sadly , but did not say anything.Soon she became bedridden.One evening , she called Saranya to her side and said ,"When I was young, I used to love ornaments and new dresses, but my parents had no money to buy me anything.That is why when I see you not wearing any ornaments that your parents buy for you, I scold you so much. I can no longer wear them, At least I may see them on you.Her eyes filled with tears." Saranya understood. "Tomorrow. I will wear my new set saree and show off all my jewels to you and I will dress you up too. Let us take some photos then".

That was the last conversation Sumitra had with any body in this world.

The next day saranya sat alone in her room staring at the mirror. She looked as less traditional as a girl could be and first time in her life, she hated herself. On an impulse she took out her saree and wore it for the first time with out a complaint.She wore her gold chain and earrings. She looked at the mirror again . Tears were streaming down her face , but she felt at peace. She knew she had kept her promise and somewhere deep in her mind felt that Sumitra aunty too knew that  where ever she was.

My old 3310

As I was lazily snoozing the alarm on my iPhone in half woken slumber , a picture came to my mind.-My first cell phone , the Nokia 3310. It was big and blue and my constant companion for a good 6 years.It was back in 2003. India was a land where mobile phones were not so much in vogue as it is now. Incoming was also charged at around Rs 5 per min and even those select few blessed with the latest gadgetry hardly ever answered calls unless it was urgent.Then TRAI made incoming calls free. It was then that my mother, who wanted to keep tabs on her teenage daughter in college persuaded my dad to get me a cell phone. A small sleek (by the standards of the time) Nokia 3310. I was the least happy of the lot. Not only did I not want frequent calls from my mom asking where I was , but the fact was that being the scatter brain that I was , I was pretty confident that I would lose it somewhere in the course of the month.

But soon , for the first time in life , people started looking for me in hostel. I became an overnight celebrity as there were very few in the girls hostel who had cell phones .Hostel mates with boyfriends queued up to use my cell phone and in 2 years , the phone was witness of hundreds of hours of sugar coated puppy love.By the last year of college , cell phones became cheaper and more common and the use of my cell phone diminished considerably. It was then that I realised the power of the composer in the phone. I spent many fun hours trying desperately to create some new ring tones with not much success.

Later in 2004 when I got engaged and moved to Bangalore for my first job, the phone became a symbol of my new status as I was almost always on call with my fiance.Later the phone would also see a large number of international calls as my fiance moved to US and I emptied my pockets constantly to make expensive international calls.As the mobile world changed around ,me with people opting for sleeker and newer phones, I was looked at with disdain for holding on to my old phone.Do you use it to throw at stray dogs to keep them away was a common refrain I heard in those days. But I held on .. I had to change batteries three times and kept the phone which woke me up faithfully every day and kept me company all day long.

Everything has a life and life cycle and that was what I found out in 2006 , when I tried in vain to get the phone to charge up . It stubbornly refused to do so even after changing the battery and the charger and that was when I realised that it was the end of a long and eventful comradeship.

I got a Samsung 2310 after that and then a Nokia 3100 ,and now finally an IPhone.As I am gently touching the touch screen of the iPhone , I think of all those text messages hammered down into the hard keyboard of 3310. How times have changed.

ഉറുമിയും മാണിക്യകല്ലും

Happened to see two Prithviraj movies -the much hyped urumi by santhosh sivan and also manikyakkallu which has prithvi in a soft role -without action and muscles as a simple school teacher. Let me take them one by one.

Urumi on one hand has the trademark cinematography by Santhosh Sivan which makes watching the lush green shores of kerala in the 16th or 17th century candy for anyone's eyes.The movies traces the course of a young man(Prithviraj) sworn to avenge the death of his father by the hands of none other than Vasco Da Gama .  But For some reason, the film fails to touch a chord with your heart.The movie looks good , the performers are all awesome, but there is a certain kind of soul missing in the script that prevents the movie from being what it was aimed to be-an Epic. Prithviraj has done an excellent job and is well supported by Prabhu Deva, Nithya Menon and Genelia, though apart from Prithviraj and Prabhudeva, the rest of them look and act odd in their present day counter part roles.The attemps to draw a present day parallel  fails miserably and the movie should have stuck to its original 17th century track.

Best Part :Santosh Sivan's cinematography , Nithya Menon, Prithviraj's drop dead looks.The other suppprting actors from Jagathy to the singers at the king's palace have done justice to their roles.Notably I liked the actor who played the role of the king .

Good Part : Prithvi and Prabhudeva have a good cameraderie and have done well in their roles. Genelia in Action scenes.
OK Part : Script , which is good in parts , but meanders off without knowing if it should take itself seriously or not.
Worst Part :Vidyabalan and Tabu,Costumes(nobody can be tricked into believing that these were authentic kerala costumes)

 Urumi is an enterainer with eye catching visuals, amazing songs, attractive people- eye candy and just like some of the jokes that the lead duo crack on screen, it is not a film to be taken seriously.

Manikyakkallu on the other hand takes itself too seriously, were it a little less idealistic , a little less preachy and did not try to praise its hero every other minute of the second half, it would have been a pleasure to watch. The movie takes after many of the movies in the same genre about a teacher coming to uplift a downtrodden school and has little new to offer and evokes a sense of nostalgia of good old malayalam movies , but does not reach anywhere near them.

Best Part : I liked all the kids acting as students-(They were so natural) & Samvrutha and the location.


Good Part : All the supporting cast like Nedumudi and KPSC and Jagathy sleep walking through the roles they have played a billion times invoking nostalgia of old movies.

OK Part : Prithviraj-He looks good , I liked his non action hero look and style but needs to improve while talking long monlogues.

Worst Part : Script getting kathi like when Prithvi asking kids to read MK Gandhi and stuff. And the unrealistic ending. ( would have been good if it was just a 100% pass and A1 for 1 or 2(A1 for everyone was just unbelievable) and the editing. The movie is a good 20 mins extra long.

It was a movie that could have been better made with a tinge of freshness , but alas , that was not meant to be. It is the same old wine in a slightly newer bottle

 

 

Into the realm of writing parody songs

Recently I ventured into a field that I had never even dreamt of doing in the past. I wrote parody songs. It all started with us wanting to make a special programmme for two of our friends who are relocating to India , when it dawned on a bunch of us to create a drama of the comedies in their life replete with parody songs enacted by the acting talent in our group. I ended up writing no less than 6 parody songs. 5 of which we enacted and all of us had a real fun evening. Thought of saving these songs here for want of a better place and as one of the most fun memories I had making them , singing them , watching my friends perform and watching the original couple on whom the whole joke was based, laughing their heads off..

Here they are .

Song 1 :Bangalore Nagarathil [Kaanana Chayayil Parody]

banglore nagarathil kazcha kaanan
njanum varatteyo ninte koode
paadilla padilla nithu mole
work kazhinjoru neramilla

NSS collegil dance kaanan
enneyum koodonnu kondu poku
innavidekku nam chenenkilo
thallanayi partikkar kathu nilpu

weekend adipoli aakkiduvan
chettanum koodente koode vayo
ninneyorikkal njan kondu pokam
innu vendinnu vendomalale

[bangalore nagarathil..]

Nammal thammil kandathil
pinninnoru varsham thikachumayi
Innenna Pekshaye Kaivediyathonnenne
Koodonnu Kondu Poku

innu muzhuvan njan ekanaya
apsara barilirunnu veesham
innu njan ezhuthum programinellam
ninte peridunnathayirikkum.

[bangalore nagarathil..]

Song 2 : Nithu Orungi veroo [Nee Madhu Pakaroo Parody]

nithu orungi verooo orungivaro..
ninte photo edukkanayi..
alpam kazhinjotte alpam kazhinjotte
njan liner ittottee..
nee vegam va vegam vaa.. camera ready aanu..


cheettu kalikkenam vellamadikkenam
onnu vegam irangamo.. (2)
10 minute edukkum innu potluck alle..
curry ippo ready aakum..
nithu orungi veroo orungi veroo
vegam iranganayi
nee vegam vaa vegam vaa pokan neramayi..

[Nithu orungi veroo..]


adipoli 11nde cricket match undu
nee kaanan verunnundo..(2)
dance practiceundu njan verunnilla
oooonam programaa...
nee vannalo
athu kazhinju
namukkorumichu shopping cheyyam
nee vegam vaa vegam vaa pokan neramayi..

[Nithu orungi verooo..]



Song 3 -Adyathe kanmani [aadyathe Kanmani Parody]



aadyathe kanmani aanayirikkanam
Nalla musclemanay valaranam
avan achane pole irikkanam
aadyathe kanmani pennayirikkanam
meen kari vekkanariyanam
avalkkamede kaipunyam kittanam



achane pole photo edukkanam
adipoli 11il kalikkanam
ammaye pole orunganam ente mol
dancu kalikkan padikkanam

[aadyathe kanmani...]


en manikkutane serial kanikkam
idea star singer kanicheedam
thankakudathine cheetu kalippikkam
cheetu kalichu kunukku veykkam
kunjikaal projectile aadyathe releasakum..

[aadyathe kanmani...]



Song 4 :Chaya Vekkadi [Ishtamalleda parody]



M: Chaya vekkadi edi chaya vekkadi
oru chicken kaalum porichu kondu vaa

F:chicken murikkanam chetta ulli ariyanam
chaya pathram kazhuki vekkanam

F: phone adikkunnu ayyo offshoranu.
venda chetta , vekku chetta.. venda chetta vekku chetta..


F:karyamillallo oru karyomillallo..
paranjittonum karyamillallo
M:chaya vekkadi, onnu vegam vekkadi
8 manikku status ayakkanam

M:kuzhimadichiye edi edi...
ippo venam vegam ponam ippo venam vegam ponam

M:veruthe thirakkokooti engu ponu nee
F:chetta, enikku kadukin manamadikkunnu
M:hey, just 1 min. (to the phone)
F:paalu pathanju pongidunnu
urula kizhangu karinjidunnu
arikku vecha vellam vanganam
F& M :ho ho arikku vecha vellam vanganam



Song 5 :Ellarum chollanu [Ellarum Chollanu parody]


ellarum chollanu koottarum chollanu
us aa nallathennu
usaa nallathennu
njanonnu chinthichu nokkiyappol
thonannu naaanu nallathennu
kerala naadanu nallathennu

officil pokanam,rathriyul callukal
bhakshanam kashti aanu..
ivide bhakshanam kashtiyanu
neethu vinde prasavam nattilanenkilo
naadan bhakshanam kittum
amma vekkunna amma vekkunna
food kittum..

mathiyayi pengale mathiyayi koottare
ibm joli moolam
jithuettande jithuettande joli moolam
neram velukkumbol pennungal vili aanu
offshore call enna peril..
ayyo offshore call ayyo offshore call enna peril

project mattidam H1 eduthidam
nilkan ready aanenkil
ningal nilkan .. ningal nilkan
ready aanenkil
cyrilinde naadakathil role onnu thanneedam
theerumanam maattumenkil
ningal theerumanam maatumenkil..

ellarum chollanu koottarum chollanu
usa nallathennu athe usa athe usa nallathennu..
ennalum chinthichu nokkumbol thonnunnu
naadanu nallathennu kerala naadananu nallathennu 

Pranchiyettan and the Saint

Finally , finally, one of the most well received malayalam movies of the last year became available online and we didn't think twice before watching it on TV. I for one , had been eagerly awaiting the release of this movie on the internet because the story is based in my home "Thrissur" and all the characters were said to be speaking in typical Thrissur slang. The movie did not dissappoint. It showed yet again , that Mammootty is becoming a master of situational comedy.(From Trivandrum slang in Rajamanikyam to Thrissur slang in this movie).


The movie has Mammooty playing "Cherammal Francis" an uneducated , but rich businessman in Thrissur , who is trying different ways to change his image and name from that of "Ari pranji" to something more respectable.He is very often bested by his childhood nemesis (Siddique as Dr Jose) who incidentally also stole his childhood sweetheart Omana(Khusboo) through nefarious schemes as well. Many hilarious situations that ensue in the process.

He shown trying to contest for "Regency Club" president elections ,organize a welcome for an oscar winner(an obvious take on Resul Pookutty) and even get a padmashree award.Innocent , tinyTom, Jayaraj warrier, the new face as Eyappan the cook and TG Ravi give ample support to his schemes. It is right after the failure of the last scheme (the one to get padmashree) that a lady with the very same name comes into his life.Priyamani as the smart modern girl changes not only the colours of his house , but the colours of his heart as well, as he falls in love with her,only to hear that she has already had enough of relationships and men from her experience with a failed marriage.Pranji is too busy to be dwelling on his heart break for long and takes it as another one of his failures. He now conentrates his attention on getting a weak student(Master Ganapaty as Pauli) in his friend Anthony mash's school to pass the SSLC exam,but fails at that too inspite of finding out that the boy was brilliant.But he finds out that Pauli is dealing with unimaginably huge personal problems and decide to adopt him as his son.

It is at this juncture that he goes to his church to have a talk with the Saint Francis of Assisi.
The whole movie is shown as a series of conversations between Pranji and the Saint , and hence the title.The movie is simple to the core and the uncomplicated narration style make it a pleasant watch.

Pranji thinks as every one does that his problems are huge and that he is always losing , when in the end , the saint shows him that life is not as we think and that he infact has everything that he needs.

A very endearing movie and one that evoked a lot of nostalgia of my favourite place "Thrissur" and its people.

Waiting...

Just read this  http://questforheaven.blogspot.com/2011/02/rain-on.html by Usha Ma'm on her blog and I'm all back to my favourite muse , the rain.Unfortunately , we have still weeks left before the snow melts and the rain falls.Having experienced it last year , felt like writing about the season here that is sooo different from the rain in kerala. Also put some sleeping beauty into it. Here it is

Waiting...

Pricked by the icy thimble
Life lay sleeping beneath the snow
Bound to slumber by a season's curse
Frozen cold as in death she lay

Winter fairy with hands nimble
Draped all in a white ensemble
A palace of snow and ice prevailed
Protecting her from eyes that pried.

Storms raged above and battles were fought
But the curse did not break and she slept on.
Waiting for her prince and waiting for her kiss
A kiss that would warm and make her alive

Then one day , as it was destined to be,
Some one came from far above ,
The frozen fortress melted away
As his warm hands made their way.

She stirred at his touch, a smile
Upon her cold dry lips she lay,
As drops of rain came pouring down..
Kissing her to life once again

My Take on Gone With the Wind

  

My take on one of my favourite novels "Gone With the

Wind". This is the story told as briefly as possible , trying to keep the essence of a thousand page book within a few hundred words , writtern way back in 2004.

Just reading it again showed me how simplistically I see  these books and characters.Initially it was sent as four emails to my husband and some of my friends after I'd just finished reading the novel myself.Here it is with a few minor edits for typos.

 

Part 1:

The book is set in the times of American civil war.Scarlett is the eldest daughter of Gerald O'Hara (who was Irish and made his money in cotton plantations) and Ellen Robillard a really nice lady and and excellent house manager .

She is described as some one who has the power to get things done with out actually raising her voice.Their plantation is called 'Tara'.It has many slaves.There are women slaves who specialise in getting ladies ready and also field hands who work in the field.Almost all the neighbours live in much the similar way.

Scarlett is a very different character.Not what you'd expect of a Heroine.She is attractive with green eyes red hair and all .But she only understands tangible things like money and land.She really does a lot of things that are not quite right just to get her own way and make money.

Scarlett loves Ashley one of the people in her neighbourhood.But he marries his cousin Melanie.On the day of engagement of Ashley and Melanie she confronts ashley and he confesses that he loves her but that they will never be happy together coz they cannot understand each other.she slaps him.

Rhett butler Overhears this conversation.He already has a very bad reputation and every one in the country hates him.Scarlett is mad at him and hates him instantly for seeing her in that shameful sitaution.

Melanie is the other heroine like character in the book.She is full of goodness.She cannot even imagine an evil inention in another person.She loves Ashley dearly.

To spite everyone Scarlett marries Melanie's brother Charles.

Then the civil war happens.................

Part 2

In the war many people were killed and the south was defeated.Among the dead were Charles-scarlett's first husband.She bears a child which she totally ignores.She never really loved Charles and hates the time of widowhood coz she cannott do anything that she likes.The fact that she can never have Ashley gnaws at her.

Then she goes to live with Melanie and Charles ' aunt in Atlanta.Scarlett hates Melanie.But Melanie always misinterprets Scarlett's behavior with something heroic.Rhett Butler makes many cameo appearances and he is the one person who can read what's exactly on Scarlett's mind.He doesn't care about reputation and he has no scruples about making money when the confederate (southern states) are falling.

Then war comes to Atlanta too and everyone flees .But Scarlett and Melanie cannot leave because Melanie is pregnant.Though she curses Melanie a lot in private,she stays with her and helps her.Then they go back to Tara together.There everything is scarce and they have barely enough to live and pay taxes.They try to get money .Very unconventionally scarlett seduces a guy called Frank Kennedy who owns a store and marries him knowing perfectly well that her sister loved him as well.But here she really does give the money to every one in her family which her sister would never have done.
She lives as the wife of Frank kennedy and gives birth to a daughter.But She starts managing the store and also buys mills.She turns out to be an excellent business lady .But as ladies of her time are not supposed to be outside houses.Frank gets ridiculed by every one.He Ashley and many others join the Klu Klux Klan against blacks and Frank gets killed.

Rhett helps Ashley.Even now Scarlett loves Ashley.Rhett loves her.

Part 3

Rhett Butler was unpopular because he was thought to have made a lot of money from war .Also he was known to have funded a prostitute set up her house and he was quite ungallant unlike the usual southerners.


Scarlett is by far the most unpopular female in town and only Melanie really likes her.Rhett confronts her one day and offers to marry her fully knowing alll her faults also telling her that he has virtually no feelings of any kind towards her.But that since they understand each other's character so well , they should get married.

Again a marriage for Scarlett and Rhett gives her everything money can buy and also independence to live as she likes which is a way unnatural to other southern ladies.

Ashley has virtually no money and no job .So scarlett offers him a job at one of her mills.Even now she has Ashley on her mind and wishes that Melanie were dead.Melanie on the other hand adores Scarlett and Rhett and has no suspicions abt her.

Scarlett starts liking Rhett but not loving him.They have a daughter 'Bonnie' whom Rhett adores.Rhett mends his ways and becomes the most caring father that Atlanta has ever seen.All the townspeople start liking Rhett.

Then an incident involving Ashley and Melanie occurs at the mills and causes scandal in the town.Every one hates scarlett and the whole town is abuzz with rumours.But melanie refuses to believe any rumour abt scarlett and even stops talking to those who talk ill of her.Neither Ashley nor Scarlett tell her the truth because truth would be unbelievable to Melanie.

Rhett becomes quite cold to scarlett and leaves Atlanta.She starts understanding him .But she is too head strong to admit it to him.

Part 4

The day Rhett comes back ,Scarlett is really happy to see him and wants to tell him that she is going to have a child.But they have an argument at the end of which she falls down the fleet of grand stairs and is very ill.

It is at this point that we understand how much Rhett had loved scarlett.And Scarlett delirious can only think that Rhet hates her and she never once calls his name.Melanie is there full time to care for her as well as console Rhett.

After Scarlett recovers , She pays a visit to Tara and comes back rejuvenated.Bonnie grows very fond of jumping over fences on her pony .Rhett is a very indulgent father and lets her do everything she fancies.
Then one day Bonnie tries to make the pony jump a very large fence and she falls off the horse and dies instantaneously.Scarlett blames Rhett.Rhett is devastated.

Rhett gets drunk everyday and goes back to his old ways .He doesn't even acknowledge Scarlett's existence.Scarlett feels very lonely.Then one day Rhett telegrams her saying that Melanie is seriously ill.

She had not heeded doctor's advice abt not having a baby and now was on her deathbed.

Melanie says she wants to speak to scarlett .She tells scarlett to look after Ashley and her kid.Scarlett suddenly realises how much Melanie meant to her and that her foolish love for Ashley evaporates away in a flash..

As she rushes back to her home thru the mist to tell Rhett that she loves him and that she wants him .But he calmly says that it is too late -his love for her has worn out and that he is abt to go on a long voyage.....

Scarlett is left all alone.But with charecteristic grit she says 'I'll think of some way to get him back'.'After all tomorrow is another day'.

Valentine's Day Cards

Till date , I can say without much regret  that I have never receieved even one V'day card , either in school , college or even after my wedding  except for one or 2 from hopeful suitors of my beautiful best friend ,giving cards to the two of us in-order to avoid getting the taste of her block heeled shoes. This year too , getting cards for myself is not a likely probability , but I did spend a good half an hour yesterday , making V'day cards with my son's name signed in them with stuffed candy all ready for him to give it to his friends in daycare.After I was done, it looked soo cute , that I took a picture of it on my phone.

Anyway, manu can't complain about not having experience in giving v'day cards. He is defiitely starting young..

Here is a cute little love poem I wrote years ago.

Happy Valentine's day.

A different Anniversary

I am almost back to my normal bubbly self after a hugely stressful week . My husband and I have been going through a gruelling work schedule leaving us even no time to really celebrate our sixth anniversary even.And there was this event that happened this week that I feel I need to write about.


It happened on Sunday 30th Jan . It was our sixth anniversary and I had just woken up and was making tea ,resolving to cook something much better than what I'd been doing the past week for breakfast and lunch , when hubby got a phone call from one of his team members. It wasn't unusual, since the whole team had been working day in and day out , and I had helped my husband and him for debugging a java requirement the previous night. Today how ever , he sounded really agitated and on the verge of a breakdown. I heard my husband asking him to come over to our place. I cursed inwardly. Why did this guy have to come over and work at our house on a Sunday morning , that too on our anniversary? But then , when I actually saw what a nervous wreck the guy looked like, my stance softened. I served coffee and also offered my suggestions to their web development problems.


As time dragged on ,and it was apparent that the problem was more psychological than technical. He pointedly refused to have any food and insisted that he was alright , when he looked as far from it as could be. We began to get worried and my husband suggested that they go out and buy lunch. After they bought lunch, I persuaded both of them to come and eat, and then as he tried to get up, fell flat down the carpeted floor unconscious. My husband revived him with water whilst I got our friends to come and help, and made him have food But the guy was a nervous wreck. He kept apologizing for causing us trouble and was on the verge of tears. My husband then took him home to his friend's place and left him there to take rest.


Nevertheless,the incident left many disturbing thoughts in my mind. Was IT causing so much pressure that it was causing nervous breakdowns in employees? Where the companies in their greed to meet unreasonable deadlines , making the employees (their golden egg laying geese) to work just too hard?My husband and others in his team had been working into the wee hours of the night to meet their expected goals.


I looked at my husband. He looked as disturbed as I did , and I knew it was more than meeting the project deadline that was causing it. I then decided that I wasn't going to give him any more pressure than he was already having, for not spending time with me. It was an anniversary sans celebrations , but it was not going to be one without love and understanding.

In rememberance of a Friend

A pen with the initials RSM inscribed on it which she used to say she would have inscribed on all the Nokia phones once she became CEO, a box of thoughts(suvisheshams) handed out to any one feeling blue, a big smile for her friends,the asbsolute freedom to say what ever you pleased with out minding the language,and the absolute terrbile way she destroyed the most beautiful songs .That is the Rekha Susan Mani I remember.

I wish I had never seen the mail, never heard the news , never known that she is no more in this world, for I would do anything in the world today to know that the smiling facebook photo is for real and that she is still alive and well.


From a cobweb of memories old,
I can still see your smiling face
Oh thoughts , they come in a flood
flashing scenes in my mind's maze

I remember the smiles , the jokes and fights,
Those rainy nights , when all was dark
I remember the laughter that echoed our room
The clouds too that made our friendships strong

When we parted ways , and you moved away
New friendships came and blocked our way
Time moved on , future beckoned
To distant lands we flew away.

We drifted apart ,as friends would do,
Not keeping in touch as we so promised to
With a pang in my heart , I realise today,
That you are gone for ever ,with angels for friends,

 Now I can see your smiling face,
in my mind ,clearer than ever before,
As I close eyes and let tears fall,
To grieve for a friend forever lost.

Wonders of Social Networking

Well, one of the wonders of social networking as we know it or can I just say Facebook is that gives intelligent suggestions as to who your friends might be ,and today , I found that a class mate from school (4th standard) had invited me on facebook.It was amazing to think that I was adding somebody that I had never seen , may be never even thought of after my primary school.But it brought back memories . I remembered our class being in the auditorium split up with separators. New classrooms were just being built, and the teachers had decided to place one girl between 2 boys on every bench. I was placed between , this guy say N and another guy who used to crack absolutely horrible jokes and N never used to open his mouth. What a pathetic place to be. But ultimately , N and I did become good friends, mostly because we couldn't stand the other guy and also because just before exams , he would come to my home with his mom and get my notes to get his notes corrected. Now I see his FB page and looks like he has become a hotshot mobile platform developer or something. My,how time does fly...I wonder if he remembers any of this himself, or  just add ed me seeing an intelligent suggesion from FB showing "You have many common friends , you come from same school, common sense says you might have come across each other somewhere" . Probably the latter . I would have done the same myself.

Little Hearts-A story from school

It was a day in kodaikanal in 1998.Two bored girls were walking around the kodaikanal wondering what they were doing there. It was the last day of a week long science camp with geeks from all over India. It was finally over and they were giving us the last day off to explore the place. The whole lot of be-spectacled black hole loving set of bujis were making a crowded conversation about bernauli's theorem with respect to the lake or something of that sort..The girls made a quick escape and were soon walking along a different path. They were checking their pockets to see if they had any money to rent bicycles when a young boy who was probably only 5 or 6 approached them trying to sell a packet of little hearts biscuits. Neither of the girls liked the biscuit he was selling , much less the fact that he was trying his best to force them to buy one of the packets. They walked away to another place , but the child was persistant. A good half an hour later the girls found themselves with a packet of little hearts for which they had paid much more than its cost. But they felt good about themselves about helping the young child.

My husband bought little hearts biscuit the other day and that made me remember this story that happened long ago.

New Year at Brainerd- A Travelogue

ഒരു അടിപൊളി യാത്ര കഴിഞ്ഞു തിരിചെത്തിയപ്പോഴാണ് ഇനി ഒരു യാത്രാവിവരണം ആയാലോ എന്ന ആശയം മനസ്സില്‍ ഉദിച്ചത്.

പത്തു പേരടങ്ങിയ ഒരു സാമാന്യം വലിയ സംഘമായിരുന്നു ഞങ്ങളുടേത്.

അഞ്ചു കുടുംബങ്ങള്‍ -ഹര്‍ഷ &സുബിത് ,ശ്രീജിത്ത് & ആതിര ,വീണ & സുബ്ബു ,രാധിക,സംയുക്ത & ഭദ്രന്‍ ചേട്ടന്‍ ,പിന്നെ ഞങ്ങളും (സുനിത ,വിജയ്‌ & മനുകുട്ടന്‍ ).തലേ ദിവസം കാലേ കൂടി എല്ലാരും രോസ്വില്ലിലെത്തി.പിറ്റെന്നത്തെക്കുള്ള ഭക്ഷണം എല്ലാരും ചേര്‍ന്ന് പാകം ചെയ്തു . ഞൊടിയിടയില്‍ ഇഡലിയും, ഉപ്പുമാവും പുളിയോഗുരവും റെടിയായി.പിറ്റേന്ന് പത്തു മണിയായപ്പോള്‍ ഞങ്ങള്‍ അവിടെ നിന്ന് തിരിച്ചു.കുറച്ചു ദൂരം ചെന്നപ്പോഴാണ് വിനുഎട്ടന്‍ ക്യാമറ കാറില്‍ വെച്ച് മറന്ന കാര്യം ഓര്‍ത്തത്‌. പിന്നെ തിരിച്ചു പോയി അതെടുക്കാന്‍ ചെന്നപ്പോളാണ്‌ കാര്‍ പൂട്ടാന്‍ മറന്ന കാഴ്ച ഞങ്ങള്‍ കണ്ടത്. കാറും കാറിലെ സാധനങ്ങളും നഷ്ടപെടാത്തത്തിനും തിരിച്ചു വന്നു നോക്കാന്‍ തോന്നിച്ചതിനും ഈശ്വരനോട് നന്ദി പറഞ്ഞുകൊണ്ട് ഞങ്ങള്‍ വീണ്ടും യാത്ര ആരംഭിച്ചു .

വാശി ഏറിയ അന്താക്ഷരി മത്സരത്തിനു ശേഷം സുബ്ബു വളരെ രസകരമായ ഒരു കളി കൊണ്ട് വന്നു.എല്ലാവരും കൂടെ ഓരോ ഓരോ വാക്യങ്ങള്‍ പറഞ്ഞു ഒരു കഥ ഉണ്ടാക്കുക.ശ്രീജിത്താണ് കഥക്ക് തുടക്കമിട്ടത്. ശ്രീജിത് വിജയും കൂടെ സ്കി ചെയ്തതില്‍ നിന്ന് തുടങ്ങിയ ആ കഥ ഒരു കൊലപാതകവും , ആത്മഹത്യ ശ്രമവും പ്രണയവും നിറഞ്ഞ ഒരു ത്രില്ലെര്‍ ആയി മാറി. സഞ്ചാരികള്‍ ‍ എല്ലാരും കഥാപാത്രങ്ങള്‍ ആയി മാറി മറഞ്ഞ ആ കഥ അവസാനിച്ചപ്പോളെക്കും ഞങ്ങള്‍ ഗുല്‍ ലയ്കില്‍ എത്തിയിരുന്നു.

     അവിടെ ചെന്ന് ഞങ്ങള്‍ സ്നോ മൊബയില്‍ വാടകയ്ക്കെടുത്തു .രണ്ടു സ്നോ മോബയിലുകളും നാല് സെറ്റ് സ്നോ ഗിയറും ആണ് എടുത്തത്‌. കുട്ടികള്‍ക്ക് ഭക്ഷണം കൊടുക്കനുള്ളവരും പിന്നെ ഗര്‍ഭിണിയായ ഹര്ഷയും കാബിനിലേക്ക്‌ പോയപ്പോള്‍ ശ്രീജിത്ത്‌, ആതിര , സുബ്ബു, വീണ തുടങ്ങിയവര്‍ സ്നോ മൊബയില്‍ ഓടിക്കാന്‍ പോയി. കാബിന്‍ വളരെ വിശാലമായ ഒരു വീട് പോലെ തന്ന ആയിരുന്നു. നാല് ബെട്രൂമുകളും വലിയ ഒരു ഹാളും അടുക്കളയും ,8 പേര്‍ക്കിരിക്കാവുന്ന വലിയ ഒരു തീന്‍ മേശയും അവിടെ ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു.അവിടെ ചെന്ന് ഞങ്ങള്‍ ഇഡലിയും ചമ്മന്തിയും ആതിര ഉണ്ടാക്കിയ സ്വാദിഷ്ടമായ സാമ്പാറും കഴിച്ചു.സ്നോ മൊബയില്‍ ചെയ്യാന്‍ പോയവര്‍ തിരിച്ചെത്തി വസ്ത്ര വിധാനങ്ങള്‍ അടുത്ത സെറ്റിനു കൈമാറി.കുട്ടികളെ മറ്റുള്ളവരെ ഏല്പിച്ചു സുനിത, വിജയും , രാധിക ,ഭദ്രനും സ്നൌമോബയില്‍ ഓടിക്കാന്‍ പോയി.അതിനു ശേഷം പല യാത്രകളിലായി എല്ലാവരും വീണ്ടും വീണ്ടും സ്നോ മോബിലിംഗ് ആസ്വദിച്ചു. ഒരിക്കല്‍ ആ യന്ത്രം സ്നൌയില്‍ കുടുങ്ങി പോയെങ്കിലും വലിയ പ്രശ്നങ്ങള്‍ ഇല്ലാതെ അധികാരികളെ വിളിച്ചു അത് പരിഹരിക്കാന്‍ കഴിഞ്ഞു. മഞ്ഞു പെയ്യുന്നതൊന്നും വക വെയ്ക്കാതെ 70 ഇലും മറ്റും കുതിച്ചു പാഞ്ഞ ഞങ്ങള്‍ നിശ്ചിതമായ ആറു മണിക്കൂറും ഉപയോഗിച്ച ശേഷം യന്ത്രങ്ങള്‍ തിരിച്ചെല്‍പ്പി ച്ചു . അതിനു മുന്പായി രസകരമായി പോസ്‌ ചെയ്തു ഫോട്ടോ എടുക്കാനും ഞങ്ങള്‍ മറന്നില്ല.ആതിരയെ പൊക്കി എടുത്ത ശ്രീജിത്തും ,മികച്ച യോ പോസുകള്‍ ചെയ്ത വീണ സുബ്ബുവും , മോഡേണ്‍ ശകുന്തലയായിപോസ്‌ ചെയ്ത സുനിതയും എല്ലാവരെയും രസിപ്പിച്ചു.

വൈകുന്നേരം അവിടെ ഉള്ള ന്യൂ ഇയര്‍ പാര്‍ടിക്ക് പോകണോ എന്ന് ആലോചിച്ചെങ്കിലും പിന്നീട് എല്ലാരും കൂടെ കാബിനില്‍ തന്നെ ന്യൂ ഇയര്‍ ആഖോഷിക്കാന്‍ തീരുമാനിച്ചു. രാത്രി വൈകുന്നതു വരെ ബ്ലുഫ്ഫ് കളിക്കുകയും അതിനു ശേഷം കുറച്ചു നേരം സംസാരിച്ചിരിക്കുകയും ചെയ്തു. ഈ സമയമത്രയും പല തമാശകള്‍ പറഞ്ഞു ഭദ്രന്‍ ചേട്ടന്‍ എല്ലാവരെയും രസിപ്പിച്ചു.2011 തുടങ്ങുന്നത് ഗണപതിയെ കണി കണ്ടിട്ടാവണം എന്നാ വീണയുടെ ആഗ്രഹം കേട്ടപ്പോള്‍ എല്ലാവര്ക്കും അത് ഒരു നല്ല ഐഡിയ ആയി തോന്നി. പുതു വര്‍ഷത്തിനു ഇത്രയും നല്ല ഒരു തുടക്കം കിട്ടാനുണ്ടോ ?. 11:59 ഇന് എല്ലാവരും കണ്ണടച്ചു 12:00 മണിക്ക് വിഘ്നേശ്വരനെ കണികണ്ടു എല്ലാവരും പുതു വത്സരം ആരംഭിച്ചു. പിന്നീട് ഗ്രൂപ്പ്‌ ഫോട്ടോ എടുത്ത ശേഷം ഡംബ് ശരടെസു കളിച്ചു.അതിനു ശേഷം ക്ഷീണിതരായി എല്ലാരും ഉറങ്ങാന്‍ കിടന്നു.

പിറ്റേന്ന് രാവിലെ ഫോട്ടോ സെഷനുകള്‍ ആയിരുന്നു. എല്ലാരും തണുപ്പെല്ലാം മറന്നു ജാക്കെട്ടുകള്‍ ഊരി വെച്ച് മഞ്ഞില്‍ ഫോട്ടോസെടുത്തു .അതിനു ശേഷം എല്ലാരും ക്രാഗുന്‍സിനോട് വിട പറഞ്ഞു സ്കി ഗുല്‍ രേസോര്ടിലേക്ക് തിരിച്ചു. അവിടെ രണ്ടു സ്കി കിറ്റും നാല് സ്നോ ട്യുബിംഗ് പാസും എടുത്ത ഞങ്ങള്‍ ദിവസം മുഴുവനും അവിടെ ചിലവഴിച്ചു.മഞ്ഞു മൂടിയ ഒരു കൊച്ചു കുന്നിന്‍ മുകളില്‍ നിന്ന് താഴേക്ക്‌ ഒരു ട്യുബില്‍ ഉരസി വരുന്നതാണ് ട്യുബിംഗ്. സ്കിയിംഗ് ആകട്ടെ രണ്ടു വടികളില്‍ കാലു തിരുകി കുന്നിന്‍ മുകളില്‍ നിന്ന് താഴേക്ക്‌ വരുന്നതും. ഹര്‍ഷ ഒഴിച്ചു എല്ലാരും ടുബിങ്ങിലും സ്കിയിങ്ങിലും മുഴുകിയപ്പോള്‍ അവള്‍ സംയുക്ടയെയും മനുവിനെയും നോക്കി .തണുപ്പ് വളരെ കൂടുതല്‍ ആയതിനാല്‍ അവരെ പുറത്തു കൊണ്ട് പോയെങ്കിലും വേഗം തന്നെ അകത്തു കൊണ്ട് വരേണ്ടി വന്നിരുന്നു.ഇതെല്ലം ചെയ്യുകയും ഫോട്ടോ എടുക്കുകയും ചെയ്തു സമയം പോയത് ആരും അറിഞ്ഞില്ല. വിശന്നും ക്ഷീണിച്ചും എല്ലാരും തിരിച്ചെത്തിയപ്പോള്‍ സമയം ആറു മണി ആയിരുന്നു.

പിന്നീട് ടാകോ ബെല്ലില്‍ നിന്ന് ഭക്ഷണം കഴിച്ചപ്പോഴാണ് എല്ലാവര്‍ക്കും ആശ്വാസം ആയതു. അതിനു ശേഷം വണ്ടിയില്‍ ഇരുന്നു അശ്വമേധം കളിച്ചു. എന്നാല്‍ സാധാരണയില്‍ നിന്ന് വിരുദ്ധമായി സിനിമ പേരുകള്‍ വെച്ചാണ്‌ കളിച്ചത്.രസകരമായ ആ കളിയില്‍ ആര്‍ക്കും കണ്ടു പിടിക്കാനാവാത്ത സിനിമ ആലോചിച്ചു രാധിക വിജയി ആയി. കളി തീര്‍ന്നപ്പോളേക്കും വീട് എത്തിയിരുന്നു .അവിസ്മരണീയമായ ഒരു വിനോദയാത്ര തന്നെ ആയിരുന്നു അത് .യാത്രയെ കുറിച്ച് അയവിറക്കികൊണ്ട് കുറച്ചു സമയം വീണയുടെ വീട്ടില്‍ ഇരുന്ന ശേഷം എല്ലാവരും സ്വ ഗൃഹങ്ങളിക്ക് മടങ്ങി പോയി.

2010- A recap

2010 was arguably one of the most fun years of my life. It was only the second in 5 years of married life that we spent in the same place.-Us being the migratory birds that we are.Minneapolis and 2010 gave us the peace,fun and friends that had been missing in our life for some time now.


January: 2010 started with a bang with us (ettan, me , amma and manu) leaving for grand marias to join our friends there. It was a very enjoyable 2 days of excitement and fun.After a lot of tension over a delayed EAD card and 2 job offers,January ended with us completing 5 years of married life.

February:My EAD card finally arrived and my dream of working in US was finally realized. The temperatures were absymally low ,but that did little to dampen my spirits as I started travelling by bus all by myself to and from my new job. Manu on the otherhand started his daycare and was not enjoying it one tiny bit.

March:March was a month of get togethers and brthdays.Our gang was now huge and each weekend was looked forward to eagery for the food and fun and frolic that it brought.


April:April came with vishu.We placed a vishukkani at home and manu got his first vishu kaineetam from his acha.The vishu potluck in traditional kerala style attire brought back memories of a distant homeland.


May:May was the month I had been looking forward to as my parents came to visit us.as we hadn't done much site seeing in minneapolis ourselves, we discovered minneapolis together visiting the cherry and spoon, mall of america and minnehaha falls.

June:June was a truly relaxing month with my parents .Ettan enjoyed excellent food cooked by my mom and manu had a great time playing with his grnd parents.Cricket season started for ettan and he was playing cricket on weekends.

July:July witnessed another great trip-this time to Las Vegas and Grand Canyon, Us , some of our friends and my parents.It was an amazing trip.July also brought me one of the best birthdays I had in a loong time.the traditional cake smashing and food and having soo many friends made my birthday memorable not for the number of candles I would have blown , but the number of people who were there with me when I did that.

August:August was a busy month , with thiruvathira practice , skit practice and lots and lots of cricket.all the practice paid off and it was a grand show at KCF onam celebrations at the end of the month.Altogether ,tt was an exhausting , but satisfying month.

September:A trip to LA marked the start of september and though it was only us , we had a relaxed and peaceful trip.We enjoyed seeing the whales at san diego and the amazing sights at universal.Back at MN , we were dissapointed that our trip to kerala got cancelled , but cricket and potluck were daily activities.

October:We celebrated manu's birthday twice, once with just the three of us at lake itasca and the second-a party with around a 100 people.Without the help of friends, such a huge party could never be realised.Halloween came and went , but as manurefused to wear his costume for even long enough to click a photo,it wasn't much fun.

Novemeber:Novemeber was a month of birthdays, every weekend having one or more birthday parties. It was also the month of birth of Devesh one of the most eagerly awaited babies in the gang.Thanksgiving saw us become proud owners a TV and a laptop.It was a real experience to see people queeing up in front of shops and putting up tents for me , where as for ettan it was first hand experience to stand in the cold negative temperatures to get the TV that he wanted.


December :December started with ettan getting the surpise of his life as we arranged a surprise party for his birtdhay.It also saw one of the most relaxed holidays that ettan and I had in a long time. We both had around 10 days of vactaion. We sent Manu to daycare and had the whole day for ourselves.For the first time in years, we sat down to enjoy good books,movies and even made a snow man.We also had 2 christmas parties with friends and went bowling.The year ended on a euphoric note with our trip to brinerd and a day of snow mobiling fun.