Change of scene

The kids left for their paternal grandparents' place today. Late by two days owing to an unforeseen mishap - on Monday morning, a somewhat poisonous snake bit my mother-in-law as she went for her morning walk at the break of dawn, and she had to be kept in the Intensive Care Unit of a local hospital for 24 hours observation. After the anti-venom injection and frequent blood tests, she was discharged yesterday.
The kids who had been clamouring for a change of scene and the trip to Changanacheri had been extremely dejected about the sudden change of plans. Anyway, they have reached safely today. All is well that ends well.
p.s. I am trying out a new nanny for the kids for a couple of days before I head for Kerala to bring the kids back. She seems desperate for a place to stay, and we are desperate for a live-in maid. Originally from Karaikudi, she is a widow who has a son who now works in Singapore. In fact, she says her mother was a Singapore citizen and considering the strength of the Tamil population there, it is not surprising. She seems polite and cultured. I hope this works.

Land marvel

A Sunday spent looking up plots for sale in Maraimalainagar off Tambaram.

DON't watch

Hours before Cyclone Laila came in search of Majnu, we went to see a reel-life Laila-Majnu pair at the PVR Cinemas here. Pokkiriraja, starring Mammooty and Prithviraj. Quite a bore, and my reactions are not different from the link provided above.
In a word the film can be described as a BORE. We however groaned and sat through it because we had paid Rs.120 each for a ticket, the seats were comfy (though I wished I had taken ear plugs) and any movie in one's mother tongue can be endured by a non-resident Malloo with nostalgic memories of Kerala. But unlike Malayalam movies from the '80s and '90s, this was so cut off from real life in Kerala. So unrealistic, and so silly a plot. It was quite like watching a Tamil or Hindi movie, excuse me for saying so. There was a lot of dance and stunts and trendy outfits and Shreya Saran was eminently watchable. Mammooty as the Madurai don and Prithvi as the local budding don looked good, nothing more. The songs are best forgotten despite Jassie Gift.
Chronic Bachelor was the last silly Mammooty movie I had seen - the kind of movie meant to celebrate superstars but without a thought for the discerning Malloo audience. Luckily the brains behind Pokkiriraja didnt try to pair the ageing superstar with a 20-something heroine. That would have been as comic as the husband-wife pair of Suraj Venjaramood and Bindu Panicker.
The only touch with reality seemed the reference to goonda raj in Kerala and a Home Minister's son being a goonda neta and the villain of the piece, tssk, tssk.

My dove in the rain

Cyclone Laila caught us by surprise in the night. It lashed against our walls, rattled the windows and rain-soaked the clothes on the line. Waterlogged roads and the steady drizzle has meant a boom time for autorickshaw wallahs. For the rest, the spirits fluctuate.

So for the birds, which remain huddled under the branches of trees. Our dove, whom I have nicknamed Amminikutty, takes the harsh raindrops on herself while keeping her eggs warm. The eggs, which some greedy ravens are trying to snatch away from her the past few days, remain safe so far. She doesnt leave them at all, not even for a bite or drink. We had strategically positioned an umbrella to guard her from her attackers, and this has come in handy now to protect her from the rain.

Chasing (away) the rains

Some days back Ash told me over the phone: "It's raining here everyday, and I am not able to play." Most evenings there are thundershowers in my rural hometown, and evenings being the only time the kids are let out to play - unlike in the olden days when we kids spent the entire day out in the yard and the fields playing all kinds of games - I can understand Ashwin's exasperation.
I advised him to sing "Rain, rain go away, Little Ashwin wants to play..." to make the rain disappear.
"Will it go away?" he asked, not believing me.
"Just try," I told him giggling to myself.
The next time I called him, he told me it hadnt worked. I told him not to bother and enjoy the rains instead. The magic of the rains is something I miss in Chennai, which is going through the agni-nakshatram phase now.

I go out for some sunshine and tea, and come across a cloudy sky instead. My heart well up with joy in anticipation of the torrential downpour that the depression in the Bay of Bengal is likely to churn.

The feminist

Mom tells me that Mira has found a new mother. Her great-aunt living in the family house next door is her adopted mother. As for me, I am her Madras Momma.
The kids have filled the lives of my uncle and aunt, a childless couple, with a lot of happiness and mirth.
Mira, in fact, prefers the company of women to that of men. She bluntly tells my dad and my uncle that she doesnt like them. "Am I not a girl? I will like only Ammachi and Mini aunty," she proclaims.
V gets very sentimental when he talks to Ash. When he tells Ash that he is missing him, the boy tells him matter-of-factly: "Why do u worry? Wont I return soon? But before that, I must get fair. Wont the boys in the van make fun otherwise? Wont people in the church look at me curiously? So I will get fair here and come."

Once upon a time

... when we looked younger, happier and more energetic. This year's wedding anniversary celebration was a non-event. Since we spent the entire weekend eating outside, we decided to eat a quiet meal at home on the 10th. Like a good wife, I cooked a good lunch with a special
fish curry. As for dinner, he had already finished his (roti-sabji courtesy the maid) by the time I returned after a late shift at work.
And we did the needful to have both our names listed in the church noticeboard this year.

Big ideas

When I called home on Saturday, the kids were all excited about the ongoing church festival.
"Amma, we saw St George moving on his horse, and there was a big snake near him (Dragon, I correct Ash.) We saw the band, lots of lights, and Appacha lit candles on the compound wall. The achen (priest) blessed me with his cross. Vaava was scared of the crackers but I wasnt. Appacha took us both to church yesterday and Ammachi took us to watch the procession today."
Mira gives me a similar narrative, but has something more to say: "I prayed for everybody except Donypapa - that's because he whacked Ashwin on his bum where the broken glass hurt it. I felt very sorry about that."
Donypapa is her granduncle who lives next door and is absolutely loving their company. Ash has no complaints about this alleged whack on the bum - "that was just in jest," he tells me.
Mira is still mollified. She tells V: "Will you eat well and become big and come and beat Dony papa?"
"I am big. I wont get any bigger," V tells her.
She is not convinced: "But you havent become as tall as Saji uncle."
Anyway she has no qualms about playing with the bat and ball Donypapa got them. I ask her if granny bought her any bangles from the stalls near the church.
No, she tells me. "But will you buy bangles for Shanta (the maid) as she doesnt have any?"

Guest of honour

A pigeon in our balcony garden... This is the second time it is laying eggs in an empty plant pot. Unfortunately it abandoned the first when V kindly gave it some twigs and coconut husk to nest on. The eggs lay forlorn for a week but disappeared thereafter. The pigeon took them away but we dont know what it did with them. The first batch of eggs came when the kids were around and it had been a subject of much interest for the duo.

This time we are careful not to disturb. The bird, meanwhile, has got quite bold and doesnt fly away when I go to water the plants.

The interval

The kids, I am told, are having a whale of a time at my parents' place. They spend the day studying, watching tv and playing with a neighbour's grandchild who is a few years older to them. Mira, mom tells me, has put on weight. Ash is looking good too and is itching much less. Their appetite has increased with all the play hours and luckily for them, they have two doting grandparents who see to it that they eat wholesome meals.
Every night, when we call them they talk endlessly. Some complaints too. Especially Ash, who like to make his dad worry about his health. Mira, my parents tell me, is an absolute terror. One can hear her giving instructions to her brother while on the phone: Ask if Amma is home, what did she eat, say that we did this etc etc.
The parents, enjoying another long honeymoon, do find time alone at home quite boring. Without the company of the spouse, time stagnates and you wish the kids are back. However, I still havent managed to watch any movie full-length (save for Arabikatha on May1, Workers' Day) or read a book at home.

Dream plots

Today evening we went to Uthandi near the ECR toll plaza to look up some plots with an acquaintance and wife who already have a big plot there. Land price now on the scenic ECR is 10 times what it was when he bought them 10 years back but we couldnt help wishing for a small plot for a weekend getaway.
The evening sun drew long shadows of us as we walked to the beach nearby. Crows gathered on the beach sands soon dispersed for the day while crabs scurried to their underground burrows and live mussels waited for the next wave to take them back to the sea.
Being a private beach it was clean and quiet save for local urchins and one couple who hid their faces as we went past and were heard discussing their office when we returned to our car.
Dinner was a sumptuous one at the Bombay Halwa House on PH road. The half hour wait outside was worth it. We tasted some Jain specials - sans onion, garlic or anything that grows underground - since our friends were Jains for whom vegetarianism is a creed.