Kerala fest

A Kathakali artiste and a mohiniyattam dancer, synonymous with Kerala's art and culture.

No, we didnt witness them performing; these were only posters at the Kerala fest in Royapettah and which V effectively captured on camera.

We had some fun company as we went for two Kerala shows yesterday - V's colleague and family. The lady was great company for me and their 7-yr-old son and 2-yr-old daughter kept my kids company. Mira hasnt really warmed up to the kids, she needs time for that.

The Kerala fest had a lot of stalls - from real estate agents selling Kerala's new "flat culture" to Chennai Malayalis to Paragon slippers to Medimix soaps and ayur care to those selling palada payasam and unniappams. The kids loved it as they had a lot of space to run around though we had a tough time keeping tab on them - counting every now and then to see if all four were around. Some of the stall wallahs were amused and gifted them candies and paper fans for free. Our men were hooked to the apartment sellers and both had almost decided to buy one each in Cochin by the end of the day at the Avanipoovarangu 2007 stalls.

The latter venue wasnt exactly my idea of a relaxed evening. The police shooed us off to the nearby Pachaippa's college to park our cars since the Tamil Governor was about to come and tehre was tight security. We had to jostle our way through the crowd for a security check. The slushy ground and many a drunken men spoiled my mood. The 12 clockwork elephants were a dampener too. That they had a mahout atop each with colorful umbrellas and venchamarams didnt enliven them much.

I think the crowd of over 5000 (or 10000?) was only a fraction of Chennai's Malayali population and an "entry free" meant that it wasnt the best of gatherings. I got to see a largely Kerala Hindu crowd, used as I am only to a Christian crowd at our churches here. We didnt stay there for over an hour. I glimpsed only Governor Barnala's white flowing beard on the faraway dais, he was eulogising about Keralites when we left. Film stars Jayaram, Kavya Madhavan and Kalabhavan Mani, whom the posters claimed were coming, were not to be seen. Maybe they came earlier. The opening song was apparently by Kerala's own nightingale Chitra - I heard it but I didnt see her.

We bought ethaakka appams (bananas slit, dipped in a dough of flour and fried in oil) and sukhiyans (made of green gram) and went home. Just as the paalada payasam at the Kerala fest, these snacks were mass-made too and didnt taste good or special.