Sound of Music

As music is to sound
So poetry is to letters,
Bread to flour,
Wine to the grape--
What am I to you, then,
And what are you to me?
What application of heat and light,
What friction causes us to dissolve--
Me into you, you into me,
Hearts into souls into soul...
Us into them,
Until the sentences of our lives
Contain neither subject nor object--
Only that grand verb
To be?

Rim Jim...Rum Jum...Rum Jum

Seen anything greener?

Wouldn't mind getting marooned on an island like this one!

Flooded temple premises - Shower of Blessings?

Rain on a thatched roof

Ronaldos in the making!

Rain in Kerala is a beauty to behold - transports you to a completely different world altogether. I’ve often felt that if there is heaven on earth, it must be in some parts of Kerala during the rains. These pictures are testimony of that.

This post is dedicated to a friend -'who shares my love for God's own country and the rains there...'

Rain is what I love. That explains why I was not fond of the rhyme ‘Rain rain go away’ in childhood…my baby loves that rhyme! Rain…it’s truly the most beautiful and blessing magnificent act of nature. (Yeah I say this despite the July 26 deluge in Mumbai!)


Some of my most vivid sensations are of the rain; I love

- The smell that springs from dry earth, when the first drops of rain fall on it…
- The feel of wet grass under your feet after a sudden downpour.
- The sound of the rain, pitter-patter on the ground…
- The sight of rain drops trickling from the roof and car windows…
- Cupping my hands to form a pool of rain, and wiping my face with the water…
- Turning my face towards the sky, and feeling the drops fall on my face…
- The freshness in the atmosphere and the earth after the rains…
- Fresh silvery green color of trees, dewy drops on leaves and flowers, puddles on the ground that go splash…
- The hot cuppa kapi Chiti used to make for me and Swe during rainy afternoons
- The steaming hot bajjis with lotssaa tomato ketchup…that Swe and me used to clean up, in the midst of sweet nothings.
- The shopping for rainwear…colourful umbrellas….slippers (used to be from Bata all the while), raincoats… rainproof bags…(ask me…was born a shopaholic!)

- Visit to temples (more so in kerala) where you get to encounter the open sky to have a darshanam of the diety. The teeny- weeny drops falling on you feel like blessings from the skies above!


Wishlist: To spend a monsoon weekend in an idyllic town in Kerala! Savour Vaazhakaai appam during the rain with steaming hot chai on a houseboat!

Thank you note: Pictures courtesy - Manorma publications and a friend who is nearly as crazy as me about the rains...and the picture it paints in Kerala.

Sunny Days!

Mumbai’s beginning to have its mercury soaring! Today we’ve recorded a max of 33 degree Centrigrade (not much by Mumbai standards!). And this is not even the tip-of-iceberg (That challenges most oxymoronish expressions!). Yeah…I hate the heat…I have this constant war of words and mêlée of expressions with C to have the speed of the fan increased… or for that matter…to turn on the AC. (I even mentioned to him that maybe we must go in for a brand-new AC this summer…and the look he gave me in response…Thank God...Looks don’t really Kill!)

Now that we have the summer just round the corner…I decided to think of ‘hot’ things to look forward to this season –

1.) World Cup – That’s a great way to welcome the summers! Hopefully our Men in blue…do take the Pepsi Tag line (Please don’t come back soon!) seriously enough...and decide to stay put in the Caribbean islands and revive the interest of many like me who belong to the tribe - Once-loved-Indian-cricket team.


2.) Mangifera indica – Man…This is one fruit…that can get me commit crimes! Aam Ras…Mango milkshake…Mango icecream…Mango kulfi…Mango tarts...Mango anything will do for me!

3.) Happy children everywhere - With annual vacation in progress… I love the chitter-chatter of kiddos all over my apartment complex.. Yes! Apartment Complex only! Not at my home…I have a great (?) time managing my 4-year old threatening to pull stuff out of my refrigerator anyways!

4.) ‘Hot’ sultry afternoons – yeah for reasons more than one, its great feeling to munch on ice creams (yeah I like the that have nuts in them)

5.) Kaala Kata at Juhu – Now this is more like a wishlist entry… I have been wanting to hit the beach for over 6 months now..and catch up on my Kaala Kata ..slurp slurp…

6.) Time to get the skirts and sleeveless wonders out of the wardrobe. And yes...I shall finally exhaust my Banana-boat Sunscreen lotion! Its been there forever.

7.) Summer precedes my favorite season of the year…The Rain! Yeah…I love the rain! I miss the rain! I am working on a whole new blog on it!

Will post that shortly!

Missing the Manirathnam Magic

A Mani Ratnam movie to me is more than just two-and-a-half hours of enthrallment. The first Mani Movie (we’ll call it MM) I saw was 'Nayagan'. Often called "The Godfather" of Tamil cinema, as it portrays the life of an underworld don in Mumbai. The storyline is said to be based on the life of Varadaraj Mudaliar, it’s the intricate plot weaving that makes the film so very watch able every single time. Incidentally I was exposed to the concept of a brothel and a cabaret number in this movie! The last dialogue in movie wherein Kamal's grandson asks him, 'If he was a good or an evil man?' made Kamal look like God!

'Agni Nakshatram' was the next one I could manage to catch. How did he get the 100 kg Prabhu stuff himself into the clothes and role of the Asstn. Commissioner of Police; that too with so much style and poise! Foot tapping numbers... an effervescent Karthik, saucy Nirosha, chirpy Amla...A complex recipe dished out to perfection!

With 'Anjali' the subject of mentally challenged children's acceptance (rather rejection) by society at large was brought to light, set against a very entertaining background. Now how did he manage to get the five-year old to emote to excellence? It still leaves me spell-bound!

The Palaghat Ponnu that I am, I am addicted to Mamooty and Rajnikanth to equal lengths..Imagine the experience of having them share the screen with 'Thalapathi'! Adding to the feast were Shobana (undoubtedly possessor of the best pair of eyes!) and Bhanupriya (here its more than just eyes!). Woww...(demi) Gods on screen?

1992, is a significant year for me..my entry into the teens! 'Roja' just complemented it. Arvindswamy (the most good-looking guy only after my dad!) and Madhu (didnt like her much actually...J?) paired up on this romantic-patriotic (one and the same?) fable! I began paying attention to tamizh lyrics only post Roja...thanks to ARR! And my favourite number...Puthu Vellai Mazhai...is something I am in awe of till date! How did he get this idea of having the hero play the role of a Cryptologist? I mean, I never knew something like that existed...and I tried hunting for anyone belonging to that tribe until sometime back...when I decided to 'make-do' with a project manager instead!

Bombay, Iruvar, Alaipaayuthey, Kannathil Muthamittal, Yuva...I can go on!

Summarising (thanks to Client communication over the years...)

A MM to me meant -

- An actor nearly playing God!
- Gutsy Screenplay
- Foot tapping Music
- Lyrics that linger on
- Earthy Narration

Now cut to the present...

'Guru'..the recent most MM...the release I had waited for over an year eagerly...catching up on filmy news website (which I detest otherwise!), wikipedia (yes..theres a lengthy post on Guru there!) .... counting Fridays for the release....turned out to be such sheer disappointment.

My heart goes out to Aka-Abhishek (for more than being touted as the Abhi-Ash duo!). The sauve and stylish actor has given his 100% to turn out as the Rustic Gujju Bhania!

Screenplay seemed so dull...with deliberate attempts hitting out at the face in trying to carve a larger-than-life image of the hero (having very very close resemblance to Dhirubhai Ambani!)
What were the women doing in the movie anyway..Ash's presence was more of a cosmetic initiative. And Mallika Sherawat...I am sure she was meant to portray a role more than that of an 'item-girl'! Comeon...boy...you could clearly make out bad-editing job in the section of the movie where she's made an appearance. Was it not 'politically-right' to link the character to a lady who had the Oomph element in her? And what was the last scene about...equating the hero's character to that of Father of the nation? No Mani...Not You!

I bought the music CD long before the release of the movie...and am still lost trying to tap my foot to a number. Except for one song rendered by Hariharan...rest prove beyond doubt..that ARR needs a self-invigorating break!

Lyrics...Cant remember a single song by the first name! Trust me I tried hard to name the Hariharan song....No luck so far!

What seemed lacking to me in the movie is the complete lack of context... so its so very impertinent to talk about the narration at all! Now I dont dare watch the tamil version of the movie ever...

I am a believer of - 'Things must get really bad for them to get any better'. Hopefully this is true with MMs too...

Until Manirathnam decides to weave his magic again...I'll miss the magical MM moments! Hopefully the wait isnt too long!

Celebrating Womanhood with Reverence to the Sacred Feminine

I have spent my early childhood at Kerala, my home state. Besides being touted as the God’s own Country by the tourism industry over the last decade, Kerala to me symbolizes the land where God (and the Goddesses) come alive!

In this context, a temple that is really close to my heart is that of the Bhagavathy temple dedicated to the Supreme Goddess located at Trivandrum at a suburb known as 'Attukal'. During my childhood days, I used to travel to school in a shared auto rickshaw and we would frequently pass through the temple. Our auto uncle as we fondly referred to him (his real name is Ashokan!) used be gracious enough to let us have a quick visit to the temple on some rare occasions, while making sure that we reached our school still well before time!

A celebration that’s really fresh in my memory is the ‘Atttukal Pongala Mahotsavam’ – the annual festival at the temple. It’s colloquially referred to as the ‘Pongala’ – meaning Sweet porridge!

The week preceding the festival, the city, especially the area around the temple, used to take on a different character. Temporary shops sprang up along the streets with peddlers selling garments, earthenware, ice creams, snacks, and toys besides whole lot of other merchandize. Malls were unheard of, so were traffic jams! Devotional songs blared out from a public-address system, drowned at times by the loud boom of exploding firecrackers – an offering peculiar to this temple.

Over the years, the festival has grown into one of the most important community festivals of the state that the day of the 'pongala' is a holiday, with many parts of the city closed to vehicular traffic. What sets Attukal Pongala apart from other community gatherings is that it is believed to be the largest `women-only' religious event in the world and has been known to attract between 5 and 15 lakh women devotees in recent years.

The offering of Pongala is a very special temple practice in the southern part of Kerala. Attukal Mahotsavam is a 10-day long and Pongala is offered on the auspicious day of Pooram star, which coincides with full moon. On ‘Pongala’ day, the fragrance of incense, sandalwood and coconut oil mingle with the smoke from hundreds of thousands of open hearths as the women cook the sweet porridge of rice, jaggery and coconut, in earthen pots as an offering to the Goddess.

What is inspiring about the ‘Pongala’ is the capacity of women from all walks of life to come together in harmony and peace with a single purpose. It’s an opportunity to silently bow in reverence to the Supreme Mother with single-minded devotion. For the advocates of gender inequality debates, I’d suggest plan a visit to this festival. It’s a celebration of Womanhood that you are likely to experience, dedicated to the sacred feminine!

Wish note: Being part of the Pongala was my mother’s long-cherished wish; I Pray the Goddess bestows me with one such opportunity.

Also of interest: Dianne E Jenett of the New College of California made Pongala the topic for her Doctoral thesis. Titled ‘Red Rice for Bhagavathy’, Dianne's dissertation examines the `pongala' ritual from the eyes of a cross-section of women in Kerala.