Thursday, May 31, 2007

The Catcher in the Rye

I recently finished reading Salinger's masterpiece - between blogging and working and babyrearing, it turned out to be an epic effort. One of the greatest books I have read, and to think that all these years I thought it was one of those boring masterpieces. "one great book and all, if you know what I mean" - that's the way the protagonist Holden Caulfield would have commented. That he narrates the events as he is undergoing treatment at a psychoanalysis centre makes it poignant.

I would recommend it to anybody who hasnt read it. I am onto Paul Coelho's The Alchemist now. My old friend Bino is planning to write a thesis on it and she recommended it to me.

My all-time favorites are Of Mice and Men, To kill a mockingbird, The Happy Prince and now Catcher in the Rye. Well, that is veering towards American literature - and for someone who was fed on a diet of British English litt. until postgraduation that seems a bit of an aberration. I cant forget the days when me and Bino cracked Hazlitt's essays for our BA exams. Charles Lamb's essays seemed a song in comparison.

Bino, are you listening?

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Death and destruction

When I reached Kerala, the news that was hogging the headlines was the deaths of newborn babies in a govt-run hospital in the capital city. By the time I left it was demolition drive of the CM especially in Munnar, that lovely hill station we have been so wanting to visit. I dunno if I want to go and see all that wasted expenditure and destruction now. Here is one resort that was brought down. Lovely from the pics.
When I was expecting Ash, we had won a 3-day 2 night free stay at Club Mahindra Munnar. The complimentary pass meant for the off season was wasted because my gyn did not think I should be travelling up country at that time.
Maybe some day, after all the rubble is cleared I will go there.

Our blooming bud


Today noon, we started out to take Ash to Faith International, the school he was supposed to join for pre-KG or LKG, depending on the principal's evaluation. But as we headed out, we decided, on a whim, to check out the new montessori that has come up next door - V hadnt seen it, only I had dropped in once. They showed us the montessori materials and play gear. We still werent sure whether we wanted to put Ash there though the proximity of the school was tempting.
I let V decide - and he finally decided for it.
For one, it is near and even the watchman can pick and drop. Faith is pretty far and Ash has to be ready by 8 am to catch the school van. Right now, he doesnt wake up before 8 am. It will work out cheaper too. And third, we can pull him out and put him in a regular, big school next year.
The school opens on June 11. The mont is likely to put Ash in pre-school only, not LKG.
The guy who runs it is a speech therapist, and we'd like him to evaluate Ash too at some point. Ash still cant form sentences, he is just about using words and most of them in Malayalam. He can however ask, "Ithenna? (What's this)" to the point of driving me crazy.
Some of his special new words are Tee (for TV), Mumma (water!), bamu (balloon) and papu (pashu/cow).

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Childproofing your home

I am worried! We are not able to heed the warning on medicine bottles: Keep out of reach of children. (Once upon a time I wondered why it had to be mentioned on every strip of tablets/bottle of syrup. Well, I also wondered why all buses in Kerala had this warning: No smoking & Dont put your hand and head outside.)
Yesterday morning I saw the maid running after Ash in breakneck speed to the spare bedroom. From her cries I understood that he had snatched her tablet, put it in his mouth and ran away to the bedroom. I quickly joined in the frantic effort to retrieve the yellow tablet which was beginning to melt in his mouth. Going by his temperament we couldnt be sure if he'd spit it or swallow it. Anyway, he decided to obey and I quickly washed his mouth and tongue.
The maid assured me it was a tablet to relieve indigestion. But what if it had been one of her prescription drugs - she has a liver disease and takes some strong drugs, including sedatives. And Ash is fond of taking medicines, even bitter ones.
It now has V and our parents worried too. The maid takes it a bit too casually. We now wonder if Mira's only episode of a life-threatening fit was caused by tasting one of the maid's tablets - she used to give the medicine box to Mira to play with.
Anyway, the maid is leaving this Sunday but our new maid is yet to materialise. The search is on.

Monday, May 28, 2007

A Sunday at Spencer Plaza


Posted by Picasa
We went to church in the morn with Mira, since Ash was still asleep when we left. It was a fairly long service today being Pentecost day. I dont think I have attended a Pentecosti since 1999, the year we got married. In fact in 99 it fell on the Sunday after our wedding, which was on a Monday. (Well, Syrian Orthodox Xians hold weddings only on Sundays and Mondays, preferably the latter.)
Met the parish priest after service as he had been kind enough to visit V in hospital and twice later at home. In fact that was one of the heartening facts about the Chennai parish. So many people we knew and DID NOT KNOW called/visited after V met with the accident.
We had a guest for lunch who stayed on till tea and then we all went out - to Spencer Plaza, Chennai's biggest shopping mall, where people come just to windowshop and enjoy the aircon. The other weekend getaways here are beaches and parks.
Spencer's was teeming with people but we spent some 2 hours there - in Landmark, the swank bookshop that now also sells other stationery, jewellery, CDs, DVDs and home goods. The rest of the time was spent in the corridors and a playarea for kids. The kids loved it - it is not everyday that they get a chance to run around at will.
And now the kids are asleep and V is watching TV. I wish Sundays lasted 48 hours!

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Onto the 8th year

Past the 7-year itch...
Daisypath Ticker

We celebrated our wedding anniversary on the 10th of May with a boating in the Vembanad lake near Kumarakom, that star tourist spot in Kerala made famous by Prime Minsiter Vajpayee's visit there some years ago. WE (us four, my parents-in-law and my mom) had gone there hoping to trek to the bird sanctuary there but it was closing time at 5 pm being a govt-managed place. The officer at the ticket counter however gave us the option of going to the bird sanctuary on a motor boat, at Rs. 275 for half an hour. We stepped into the boat with trepidation as none of us knew swimming. But we soon overcame it and by the time we reached the sanctuary area we were in no mood for bird watching and preferred a ride across the vast Vembanada lake, sprawling 3 districts - Kottayam, Alleppey and Ernakulam. Pathiramanal and Bolgatti beckoned us but it was too late in the day for such a long trip.
The boat driver instead gave us a bonus half hour ride for a tip. Houseboats of various resorts moored in the canal area and tourists enjoying the sunset waved at us. A snakebird emerged from the waters and flew away while a dozen birds flew home making a pretty picture of themselves in the sky.
The sun had already set, so V didnt get the ideal shots he wanted. I think we will go there once again for a more relaxed outing.
We then headed for dinner at the Karimpankala restaurant cum bar for dinner - for starters, toddy or naadankallu in an earthern pot; then tapioca, appam, chapati, fish curry, duck curry, rabbit fry, and above all, the delicious karimeen (pearlspot) fried and served in banana leaf!

Watch this video!


What I love best about the perunnal is the traditional chendamelam (concert of drums?). Once upon a time it was the bandmela, and watching the band members in their bright finery. The band continues to be a feature of the perunnal, but I am no more overwhelmed by it.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

The festival of Chandanapally

My native village's greatest claim to fame is the festival of St. George in early May. Chandanapally literally means the abode of sandalwood trees but I dont ever remember seeing one there. But in my childhood it had an abundance of paddy fields and cashew trees and banana farms and what not - now the paddy fields lie uncultivated while ubiquitous rubber trees have replaced less profitable cash crops. However, it continues to be a pristine and quiet place, and the influx of NRI money hasnt really changed the landscape (save for two-storeyed bungalows that replaced old houses, even mud houses) or the ways of its inhabitants.

The valiapally or the big church of Chandanapally continues to draw people from the neighbouring towns even today though most churches in the region swear by St. George (the patron saint of England himself) who slew the dragon snake. As a village which once had snakes of myriad shapes and venom crawling all over the place, its residents reposed its faith in the saint to save them from not just snakes but ghosts, demons and other dangers that lurked in the darkness. I wonder where all the ghosts vanished now but I guess Chandanappally was more wooded and the people less literate some 30 years ago.
Well, the people of Chandanapally believe that St. George did visit this village and the kuthirapura (stable) and the water trough for the horse stands testimony to this. A cross carved out of a single rock graces the stable premises now.
From the time I can remember, the church had to share its festival revenue with the local Malankara Catholic church, constituted by a breakaway faction from the 'Valiapally' Orthodox Church. The Catholic church held its festival on May 6-7 and the Orthodox church on 7-8. But even the Catholic parishioners (save for a handful of hardcore ones) did not fail to visit the valiapally on May 8 and make offerings.
All non-resident Chandanapallians made it a point to come on vacation during the perunnal season. For many thinking people, the farce that goes in the name of perunnal no longer holds much attraction.
The gimmicks that characterised each perunnal was there this year too - a movie actor to attract crowds, a dozen holy patriarchs to hold the Mass, fireworks, music concert/drama and beleive it or not, a helicopter from the newly designated airport at Aranmula (claimed to be the first flight from there) showering flowers on the crowd below. The death of the church secretary in an accident in the days preceding the perunnal did not deter the festivities.
Once upon a time, I waited for each perunnal with excitement - that was when I could get my mom to buy me bangles, plastic watch, plastic toys and crackers from the stalls outside the church. This year I got my children balloons, a flute and a drum - all broken in a matter of an hour.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

And I'm back




A church festival, a boating in the Vembanad lake off Kumarakom, the occasional showers that gave some respite from the humid weather and drinking in the beauty of lush-green rural Kerala constituted much of our vacation. It was bliss - to forget work, the kathri heat of Chennai and surprisingly, the Internet too. I thought I'd miss the last one but I didnt - my days were too full with the babies and our hectic vacation schedules.
More pictures to come. Good to see you all again.
Posted by Picasa

Saturday, May 05, 2007

I'm off!

I am leaving for Kerala tomorrow night. The entourage includes the kids and the maid, the latter will proceed to her home on 8th - hopefully Mira will adjust to her new surroundings by then and not cling to me like she did last time.
V is arriving on 9th and leaving on 14th - he is hoping to see an ayurvedic masseuse about his knee. He has to join duty on 16th.
It is our 8th wedding anniversary on the 10th and this year we are likely to be in the same place for a change. Past 3 years, V was in Chennai while I was in Kerala. We havent planned anything yet, but we might at least have a dinner out - with our parents and kids!
See you all on 22nd. I will be cut off from the cyber world for the next 15 days.

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Back to Golusu


I made an extraordinary purchase for myself yesterday evening - a pair of silver anklets! Extraordinary, because I havent felt the urge to wear it in the last 25 years. In fact, I had gone in hoping to find a pair of not-too-noisy anklets for Mira, but none of the shops had any simple ones with minimum bells. They had simple yet fancy modern models for adults, especially teenagers - ones with beads and so on.

I picked a simple, thin pair for myself in the end. Surprisingly, V and the maid both liked it.

I have never fancied golusu ever since I lost one on my way to school one day. The person who found it, a Shylock of a shopkeeper, claimed that he handed it over to someone. That someone turned out to be a stout old lady living in a shack near our village junction. I surreptitiously went to her but she gave me a cock-and-bull story about giving it to some girl who said it was hers.

I realised the matter was grave enough to report to my parents, risking the torrent of verbal and physical punishment. But surprisingly the retribution was not so harsh. They tried their luck with the stout lady too, in vain.

Dad offered to get me another pair, but I declined. My golusu days were over - even when gold anklets became a rage in Kerala, I smiled sympathetically at friends who thought they had to flaunt one.

p.s. Maybe if I ask for silver bracelets, the shops will be able to come up with a simple pattern that can adorn Mira's tiny ankles.

This market of ours

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2007/05/02/stories/2007050200260100.htm
I liked this article of yesterday's on the Koyambedu fruit-vegetable-flower market. Once upon a time, that is, before the kids came, we used to frequent the wholesale market for our weekly veggie shopping. In fact, the veg shopping after church became the main reason for going to church. But it was a bit too crowded on Sundays for my liking.
And with new, well-lit veg shops offering "vegetables at Koyambedu rates" nearer home, we altogether stopped visiting the sprawling market complex with Kerala-style architecture.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Latecomers come second

I am like the Number 2. According to numerology, I am a 2 person. One characteristic of a 2 person is that if they need to go somewhere/do something, they dont do it right away. They take a roundabout/detour - just the way you write the number 2 - before reaching their destination.
And today was one of the days I behaved like a 2. For a change I left home early for work, and I found I had some time to peep in (it turned out to be a 45-minute peep in the end) at Landmark to see if they had curtain rings that an aunt back in Kerala had requested me to get. They didnt, so I bought a case for the digital camera (at last) and 100 selected short stories by O' Henry from the bargain counter. He is one of my favorite authors, though I can only remember The Gift of the Magi and The Last Leaf.
From there, I trudged up to the Fruit Shop On Greams Road on the floor above for a quick Tang n' Ginger Punch - it didnt come quick as the shop was a bit crowded, and worse, they put too much of ginger and made it too punchy for my liking. But anything is welcome in this weather.
End result: Reached office late.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Amnesia

Today I went to an ATM counter only to find that I couldnt remember the pin. Can't blame my brain - I havent used it (not my brain, I mean the account) for nearly 3 weeks, I think, barren as the account is. But I am generally good with remembering numbers and dates - birthdays, wedding anniversaries, registration numbers, passwords of my numerous web accounts - that I must say that something is wrong with me. Old age symptoms, I guess.
V still depends on me whenever he wants to know the kids' birthdays or our wedding anniversary.
Hoping to visit a neighbour who has had a bypass surgery in Apollo hospital, after work. He was lucky to have got a good package for the op or they'd have fleeced him, being Chennai's leading cut-throat hospital. The brandname just saves them - and the beautiful Malloo nurses!

On the penultimate day of reporting duty at the photography festival, the boss of the English writing dept, came and told me: When we both a...