Onam – The festival of flowers
Kerala has its own unique culture and festivals. Onam is the festival most famous in Kerala. It is believed that a very generous King name Mahabali, comes to visit his people during this time to see if they are keeping happy and well. Hence, the houses are cleaned and beautiful floral designs are made. These are called Pookalams and have flowers of different colors. Women wear white colored saris usually with golden border. Men too dress in traditional white shirt and dhotis. Kids are decked up too. The food prepared is vegetarian and consists of many items. Traditionally the food is taken sitting on the floor. The food is laid out in a certain way atop banana leaf. The whole family eats together the elders usually served first. The ladies get a respite from house hold duties and spend the better part of the day swinging on swings, singing songs and doing traditional dances. Relatives however, far across they may be tried to make it to their homeland for Onam. So if you try to get a ticket to Kerala during this season, it may be a hard bargain.
Kuravilangad – My home place
Kuravilangad is where I live. It is a laid-back village kind of area in the internal parts of Kerala. Though, essentially village like in character, educationally it is very forward. Economically, this place is very well to do. The key attraction of this place is its church. Called the St Mary’s Forane Church, it is believed that one of the earliest sightings of Mother Mary happened to some children grazing sheep centuries ago in this place. The Venerable Mother directed these shepherds and their parents to build a church in the place indicated and that is how the church came into being. People from far off places come to visit and pray in this church. This place is one of the hubs of Syrian Christians, though now a lot of people of all religious can be found here. Patriarchal in nature, this region however, gives a lot of importance and stature to women unlike in some parts of India. It is also an educationally important place.
Travel for the travel freak
If I could have anything in the world, then for me it would be the boon to travel anywhere in the world. I wish I could do that unhindered by visas and documents and passports. Oh such fun it would be. I do not want to be like the advertisement traveler staying in fantastic hotels doing those things which tourists do. On the other hand I would like to experience each culture in its own unique way. Travel by the local buses, stay with a local family, participate in the local festival. Visit the favorite haunts of the people who stay there. I would love to collect as unique sovereigns such items which are well found and famous in the region. Before traveling I would like to learn a little bit of the said places language and read a bit about them. Neither do I want to overdo it. Just learn enough to survive and discover the rest in the place itself. All the travels I would like to do without any prejudgment about the place or people and accept all things as they are and enjoy them in their present state.
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Little deeds of kindness
I have thought about this often. What is it that one thinks, during the last legs of one’s journey on this earth? When I think of so many whom I knew well and who are no longer here, I certainly have never thought of what social position they were in or how much money they made. I have thought of what they said, how they behaved. Simple things like how my grandmother would always feed poor people in the small courtyard near the kitchen and they would give her toothless grins. How she would attend to the various needs of her large and extended family members keeping all the customs of our culture intact in her bony hands. So, I have come to the conclusion that in every human being it is the little acts of kindness that shines out most. It may not shake the earth or build cities but it will certainly make a difference in the life of someone known or unknown who in turn may pass it on. I have tried to do such things every now and then and in turn have been blessed with many such positive experiences.
God save all around, gals are learning to drive
One of the most interesting and hilarious memories I have of my childhood is of learning to ride a bike. On the selected day, I and my sister along with my father marched out to an abandoned graveyard (of all places) to learn the skill of riding a bike. Our dad has been on the road with his bike for years, and he made it look very easy to ride a bike. Little did we know what we were in for? We were armed with nothing but enthusiasm with very little practical knowledge. While the class started with my dad being very patient and pleasant, the smile on his face increasingly turned to frown. For the umpteenth time we could not understand how to manipulate the accelerator and things like don’t press on the brake and accelerator at the same time. Anyway with him as the pillion rider, my brave elder sister started her antics. Every time she accelerated instead of braking, dad would throw himself forward and screech on the hand brakes. All said and done by the end of four rounds around the yard, dad’s back was aching and rattling. Next was my turn. I jerked and stumbled through the first round. The second one had me running straight on towards a villager taking a short cut with a basket of mangoes on his head. He ran for his life dropping the whole basket midway, while I went zig zag after him. Finally, I was thrown on the ground with the bike still humming near me. My dad had enough, “Pack”, he said, as he paid the still quaking villager his damages and marched us back. Poor dad, he never ventured to teach us again and left the job to our hapless future husbands.
Brake chain (Photo credit: slambo_42)
Travel, travel and more travel
Any day we get free, we are off on visits and journeys. These may range from visits to relatives houses in the neighborhood to nearby places. Right now we focus on such places where the kids can be comfortable. Very wild, adventurous kind of places is off the list. Our recent visit was to a place called Wayanad. We have three relatives there. So each day was spending with one family enjoying different kind of experiences. On day one we stayed in a tree house near a jungle. Then we went to a place called Kuruva Island. In this place there are many medicinal trees and streams occur intermediately. We sat on a chengadam. This is a boat made of logs tied together. It is a mere platform. Joel, my eldest loves lolling in water as do me. So we had fun. Next we went to Ooty with a close knit group. We saw the beautiful rose garden and botanical garden. The next day a close relative took us on a walking tour through the tribal belt. We went to a typical tribal village. The evening was spend walking through massive field land and enjoying the view of the among the bamboo stilettos. We ended the day with a reverberating song and dance performance by a culture group. Purchased some beautiful earrings and baskets made of bamboo from them. Finally it was good bye to the place.
Mixture of tastes
Dinner was a mixed affair. The kids were bored with rice stuff. So they went in for plain warmed bread and egg scrambled. The adults of the family had the usual stuff. Rice as the main course. Sides were a curry of lady’s finger made with coconut, mustard, curry leaves. The non-coconut accompaniment was a beetroot preparation which had salt, turmeric, chili powder and so on among the ingredients. To pour as a sauce onto the rice, there was curd sauce. This is made from butter milk and is quite spicy on the palate. Fish fried was another accompaniment as was a spicy lemon pickle. While parents- in –law finished the meal with banana fruits, I and hubby rounded off with a piece of halwa, a chewy Indian sweet, each. The kids said no to halwa. Before brushing their teeth, post dinner, they had chavanprakash. It is an ayurvedic preparation of various herbs, bought over the counter, which helps to increase the immunity power of children particularly. This they followed up with a glass of warm milk. After that I grinded the next morning idli batter in the mixie and closed the kitchen counter for the day.
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Recession would come undone, if you take it the right way
With the right attitude, recession is merely a recess to bounce back in. That’s how I take it. Heard lot of horror stories about people taking their lives, getting depressed, getting drunk and drugged to overcome the ill effects of recession. But, I think it is essential to look at the silver lining at the edge of the cloud. If you are overworked, this may be a time for you to take a break. Look at those things which you have overlooked for long and try and give some time to it. Another way to meet recession is by changing your own attitude about people and things. One thing one can do is stick to the company you were working for so far and adopt new approaches and strategies like low pricing, cutting of overhead expenses rather than employees, trying new person to person advertising approach etc to get the company and your job back on feet. Another approach would be to use all your resources and qualifications to land any job possible and chip at it steadily to keep the hearth burning. One can go back to one’s own status job once the economy jumps back. Recession has bought savings back into fashion and reigned in the splurging attitude. It has also made salaries more realistic, particularly of the top management. Herd mentality has broken and now people are exploring new venues of work. Social organizations have received well –qualified candidates for their jobs. These candidates in a robust economy would not have given such jobs a second thought. Planners have seen how simple mistakes in planning can start an avalanche and would hopefully be more careful and realistic in economic decisions.
Future Fun
My favorite part of each workday is to come home to be greeted enthusiastically by my two year old son. He is always jazzed about seeing my car in the driveway and will barely stand out of the way for me to open the door. We usually play chase around the living room for ten minutes until I give him a rest and we read a few books before it’s time for his dinner. He spends most of his dinner pointing out all the things he knows the name of in the dining room. These are simple things but they give me great pleasure.
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Homebody Weekend
This past weekend, my wife and son and I spent most of it at the house. We did a few errands on Saturday and took our two year old son to the mall to let play in the indoor park there. That evening, we had a French couple and their young son over to have dinner. My wife, who is French, put out appetizers in the manner she would if she were hosting in Paris. They brought over some wine and cheese which made me silently feel as if I were in a giant cliché though the cheese was quite delicious.