It was a Vishu eve three years back, our first Vishu after the wedding. M was still at IITM hostel those days and I had joined him at Chennai to celebrate the festival together. Vishu embarks the new year in accordance with the Malayalam calendar. Tradition goes that as we wake up on Vishu morning, we open our eyes to the sight of Vishu kani, which is an arrangement of goodies. It comprises of food item(rice, coconut, fruits, vegetables),new clothes, mirror, gold ornaments, money etc arranged in front of Lord Krishna. The traditional lamp is lighted and adorned with golden kanikonna flowers. This ensures that we have a prosperous time through out the new year.
















Since we were staying in guest house, it was arduous to follow the traditional rituals viz, kani and sadya associated with Vishu. Not to be disillusioned, we decided to arrange the kani by all means. We raked our grey cells to come up with an authentic kani. First, we needed a taalam to keep all the goodies. M suggested using his hostel food plate.Cool!! Then we went to the campus shop to buy fruits & vegetables. We decided to buy only the items which we could reuse later. So coconut, rice etc were instantly ruled out. Anyway, we cannot cook them without a kitchen setup. Hence we bought mangoes, apples and cucumber. M picked up a fivestar chocolate bar and was adamant on keeping that as a kani item. He believed that it will ensure a rich supply of chocolates and other junk items through out the year.

Now we needed a lamp. We were in dilemma, as the campus shops did not sell them. Then I had an Eureka moment. I remembered seeing these huge tree near the hostel, which had these hard brown nuts, dangling from it's branches. I had seen these huge nuts with it's case half split open, lying under the tree. That could easily be used as a diya. I could use M's Parachute coconut oil to light it up. For the wick, I tore up some old rags, and rolled it up. Hurray!! The lamp was ready. M was impressed by my creativity..heheee..

 There was a fully blossomed kanikonna tree inside the campus. But we could not get the flowers, since the branches were too high and out of reach. Besides jumping under the tree like a maniac, trying to reach the branches, will invite unwanted stares from the students. So we decided to let it go. Instead, I sneaked into the hostel courtyard, unnoticed by the security and plucked the chethi, namyarvattom flowers.. What an evil way to start a new year :)

Only thing missing were gold ornaments. So me and M removed our wedding ring and chain. At midnight, we arranged our kani, kept the alarm for 4 am and hit the bed. And next day morning, we opened our eyes to the most special vishu kani. It was a beautiful Vishu, despite being devoid of sadya and crackers. The excitement and creativity behind bringing together the naive kani made it most memorable Vishu ever.

City Rain

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These days, it rains every evening in Bangalore. The sky is persistently clouded, casting a gloomy spell whole day long. I watched the rain through the glass panes from the fourth floor of my office. I could see the rain droplets plunging down, and the intermittent gale of wind blowing the drops upward, creating a hazy pattern up in the air. It's fascinating to watch these patterns from high above.The rain thrashes down on the parked cars and  people run helter skelter for a cover. But there are  few guys walking around, as if they are unaffected by the nature's fury.. I wonder, are they trying act super cool or are they really enjoying this..I quiver at the thought of getting drenched and later having to sit inside the air conditioned office space..

As I came out of the office after the rain, everything had a glossy washed out look.The air  was cold and the evening sky  was engulfed by menacing thunder clouds. As I walked through the tech park, lined all along with colossal glass buildings, I could see the dense blue-grey monsoon clouds reflecting on the tall glass structures and imparting them a quaint bluish tint. The lights inside the buildings added to the magical feel. 




  As I walked, it started drizzling and I had to pass by the lake, which is inside the tech park. The cold wind blowing through the lake gave me goose bumps. I wished I had a warm jacket on. It's beautiful to watch the lake in the rain. I stopped by to watch the dusky light from the evening sky making the rippling waters even more beautiful. The lake has a dense carpet of flowering plants, lining it's edges. Occasionally, during daylight, we find fishermen in coracles fishing here. At other times there are buffaloes waddling in the murky waters. Group of cormorants (black duck-like birds) breed on this lake. It's a curious sight to watch these water birds. It occasionally flings it's pretty neck into the water and does a vanishing act. After a few seconds, it reappears in some other part of the lake with a wriggling live fish in it's beaks. Then it just tilts it's head up and swallow the entire fish down, in the blink of an eye. After devouring a sumptuous meal of  fish, the cormorant flies out of the lake to the distant horizon. Sometimes it perches on the branch of a nearby tree, spreading out it's wing, as if to dry in the sun.



 The night was settling in. I could neither see the menacing beauty of the sky, nor the rain. All I could see were the silhouette of the buildings against the night sky and lights reflecting in the lake. I walked on in the city rain..

Awed

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Today morning I was dashing out of the Cafeteria at office, after grabbing a quick breakfast. I was late and was hurrying out, when somebody called out,  "Madam, Good morning". I turned back  and saw the familiar face of the Security guy. "Did you have breakfast?", he asked. It dawned on me that I had not seen him for a while. Since last month, it was different Security guy at the Cafeteria. Otherwise, everyday, I used to exchange greetings and chit-chat with him. He is an old guy with a kind looking face..

"I haven't seen  you since a month.."
"Oh..I was at hometown.."
"Where's your hometown??"
"I am basically from Madurai..And it was my daughter's wedding"
"Good.. So how is your daughter ???"

And his reply left me spellbound for a few seconds..
"She works in IBM. She has done her BE in Computer Science. And my son-in-law is MSc in IT. He works here in Bagmane Techpark."

I was awed. After a few spellbound seconds, I regained my composure and replied, "That's wonderful". I felt a swell of pride, proud of these people who have worked hard and build their own destiny. I felt proud for him, proud that his daughter is so well educated and well employed.. I felt happy for him..And this Security guy still works, earns his own living and stands proud, though he could easily have left his job.. I am awed!!!!!

Siya came from Delhi last month for a short vacation. For the uninitiated, Siya is my little niece. I could hardly wait to see her and Chechi. It had been six months since I last saw her as a 2 year old and hence I was apprehensive about her recognizing her super-duper Chitta (Aunt). All my apprehensions were blown away, when she came tearing towards me and wrapped herself tightly around my legs. It was the most heart melting moment in my life as a Super Aunt.

Siya has grown up and I could hardly wait to show her around Kerala. I wanted to show her the beautiful river flowing near my home and the water birds that dwell on it's banks. I wanted to play with her in the sand in our courtyard and had even bought a beach-kit to frolic in the sand. I wanted to show her the ducks, hens, goats and cows which she never gets to see in Delhi. In fact, I was more excited than her.

At home in Kerala, she refused to come inside the house. She always wanted to go out and play in the sand, gather the nutmegs which had fallen off from the tree, go outside the gate to watch goats or sit inside the car carrying her bag and play "going to shop". And I being the hypocrite Aunt that I am, often refused to come out and play under the sizzling summer heat and get barbecued. Come sunshine or rain, kids don't really care. I preferred playing "doctor-patient" inside the house. Siya has a real stethoscope which she got from my doctor Aunt. Invariably, I am always the poor patient and Siya the Doctor. I will come to Siya to get treated for my sickness varying from fever and cough to 'pain on my little finger'. And how cute is it to see Dr Siya put her stethoscope on my little finger to diagnose my pain. Afterwards, she will apply imaginary ointment on to my little finger and enquire, "Are you okay now?".

Siya liked the beach kit which I bought for her. She dug up the courtyard with the spade, filled sand into her green bucket and marched towards the base of coconut trees to empty the contents there. To summarize, Siya happily dug up her Grandmother's precious garden!

We went to my Father's ancestral house. It was the perfect time to introduce Siya to nature. On the way, we stopped at an acquaintance's house. To my surprise, they had all imaginable domestic animals at their house. They had ducks, hens, goats, cows and even a poor caged parrot. It seemed the world was conspiring to entertain Siya.. Siya was on cloud nine, seeing the quacking ducks wading in the murky waters and the big cow tethered to the pole. She bravely fed the goats with leaves and to her utter delight, they ate right out of her hand. She even stroked the fidgety goats as the lady of the house held them for her. She kept calling out to the parrot, "thathammee thathamme".

As we were traveling, we saw a guy on the pavement selling chickens, some painted yellow, others painted pink. There were over a hundred of them squeaking inside the makeshift fence. We stopped the car and went out to watch them. Siya kept yelling, "Chitta, Touch them..touch them". The guy offered to sell us a dozen chicks for 100 Rs. I was tempted but Amma instantly declined.

We reached Valyamma's house, where my cousin's six year old son was there. Siya and Abhi made great friends, playing bat & ball, racing the car, going to watch the cow and simply holding hands & running around..In fact Siya tortured Abhi pushing him around, pulling out the toy car from his shirt pocket and thrusting wild leaves into it instead. Finally, in an act of immense friendship, she even pulled out her colourful beaded necklace and deposited it around Abhi's neck. Only an innocent two year old can do this.

I wish Siya could remember all these precious moments, when she grows up..But alas, nobody remembers their life when they are just 2 years and 9 months..So here I am recording all those exquisite moments, so that little Siya can cherish them when she grows up.

Hugs to my little sunshine girl!!!!

                                                                                Signing off,
                                                                                         Chitta

Hues of Holi

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The Holi celebration last week turned out to be a bonding time for all girls in our flat. Till then, me and RT shared a kinda hi-bye relationship with the rest of the girls. And on Holi, we just let down our guard and celebrated like a band of hooligans. I had almost lost hopes of celebrating Holi this year, since my Mom had come to stay with me for a week. My mom being the paranoid Mom that she is, warns me and RT about the colourful toxic chemicals choking our larynx, trachea, bronchi and all possible organs and about the deadly dermatological conditions that we may develop in the aftermath of Holi.

On the night of Holi, RT could no longer resist herself and returned from office wearing an evil grin and saches of colours overflowing her arms. She opened the door in a dramatic gesture and screamed, "Let 's play Holi girls !!!!!" I turned around to Mom and saw the ghastly expression on her face.



Mom: Are these natural colours or artificial? Where did you buy them from?
RT: Oh Aunty.. These are from roadside..Obviously some chemical...I got it cheap for 20 Rs
Mom had a priceless expression on her face
Mom: Heyyy!!!!! I will buy you natural colours tomorrow and you can play Holi then...
RT: But Aunty Holi is TODAY !!!!

By then the rest of the girls had joined in, all ready to celebrate. Mom couldn't tell anything and I took the silence for an Yes. (mounam sammatham) It was around 11 pm in the night. We debated on whether to celebrate on the roadside or on the terrace. Finally, taking into consideration our poor neighbourhood souls, we decided on terrace.. We created quite a ruckus on the terrace, screaming and attacking each other. I could feel the weird taste of colours stuffed into my mouth and even my ears were plugged with it.It was midnight and our laughter and screams reverberated the silent peaceful neighbourhood..A pack of street dogs were ferociously barking in front of our gate. Even our neighbour's friendly Alsation dog Tyson was going wild. We got phone calls from our worried house owner. Well, who had time to answer his calls. I must say our house owner is a cool dude. He didn't later enquire or make a fuss about our midnight escapade and we went on as if nothing had happened. And to add brownie points, the Holi brought all of us girls more close. We are bossom buddies now.

Two hours later, we were downstairs and pestering Mom.
RT: Aunty, can you click our pics pleaseeee????
Mom: NOOOO.. I will die of heart attack if I keep watching you
Me: Amma, can I hug you?????
Mom: @##$%%

At midnight, 3 baths and several scrubs later, I finally looked presentable.

Holi has always given me memorable moments. Two years before, in our office they arranged for celebrations at the rooftop cafeteria. Heaps of natural colours were kept at the counter along with sweets, snacks and unbelievably a vessel full of Bhang. We had a whale of a time. But there were a few scared lot, who went and locked themselves in the cafeteria restrooms.. Well, how long can they stay there.. When they ultimately came out, the tumultuous attack that awaited made them repent for being over-smart.

That year, at our PG, there was this this drama queen (DQ) who took bath and washed clothes only once in a blue moon. She shoves her dirty clothes into the cupboard and wears the same two days later after lavishly spraying the deodorant. At our wits end, when we enquire about this, the standard reply used to be "Oh, I took bath when you went out". Exasperated, I and N went on to plot a naughty scheme to break DQ's nonbathing spree. On the day of Holi, we thought it was the perfect time to execute our plan. We went and bought all possible colour saches. But at midnight we felt sorry for poor DQ and decided we won't drench her in coloured water but just smear the powder on her face and dress so that she is forced to take a bath. We attacked DQ with the powders at midnight and awaited with our fingers crossed. To our utter dismay, DQ just dusted off the powder from her clothes and went to the wash basin to wash off the colours from her face!!! "I will take bath tomorrow", she proclaimed. That was the final straw. We just went ahead and dissolved the colours in big jars of water and poured it directly over her head. For DQ, there was no option but to sulkingly go and take bath at midnight.. Phew...What a satisfying way to celebrate Holi!!!!

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