Chavittu nadagham

Chavittu nadakham ...kick drama ...a folk art of central kerala ie towards Cochin Allepey among Latin Christians .
Supposed to have originated in Gothuruth in Ernakulam district .
Kerala christians are mainly of two kind earler ones who was said to have followed St Thomas very immediately after Jesus Christ himself though there is historical debate on this about namboothiris becoming christians after listening to St Thomas .
Of course its very intresting to know about orthodox christians and Roman catholics CSI group etc ..iam no expert so i could be wrong .
The other major group are latin christians who got converted after Portugese rule and evangelism .
Mostly from coastal and fishermen they were called Latin christians who today are a very important constituent of Keralas christian community.
The folk art in a drama form of latin christians is the chowuttu nadagam .
Its so known as the artistes stamp thier booted feet on the stage while they perform a retinue which is a mix of song dialogue and dance all by actors themselves .
The costumes of actors resemble 16 century European costumes with prominent caps or head gear glitterring coats pants and heavy boots .
The dialogues and songs are in malayalam
The actors in small groupsbreak into choreographed steps on off with the very trademark stamping .
In fact its even said that a very good group would break the wooden stage by the end of thier act due to the forcible stamping 😁
Todays story was on Julius caesar and Fort Cochin Chowuttu nadagham kalari did the perfomance .
They were very professional having done more than 150 shows so far .
With revival of such folk arts it was very nice of IMA Kochi to arrange this for an audience to most of whom it would have been new .
The actors all did well but applause came to a small boy who dressed as an adult mimed the movements of his elder coleagues to perfection .
In the final scene Julius caesar is stabbed and he dies with an you too Brutus .
I really enjoyed the evening .

Enid blyton and other books

This picture by a friend with mutual reading  taste brought me back nostalgia in a rush .

I used to love Enid Blyton books think till around 8 to 12 years of age .
Mostly borrowed from friends houses very rarely bought but i read plenty .
I used to live those adventures with the five in the famous five series .
They lived in cold England and me in warm Madras but i did go through their stories as if they were mine .
Enid Blyton the lady author wrote more than 600 childrens books and was one of the seven most popular writers ever .
There were lot of criticisms too on her habit of doing no research but just writing spontaneously
She used to tell "writing to me needs no planning, its there in my underbrain ,all the plots the stories just roll in once i sit to write ."
In a very teeny weeny way I am that sort ,
I hardly think of plots or posts or read them back it just flows and I forget !

Please dont conclude on me of having any airs I just alluded to the way I write .

Later came Biggles ..a first world war pilot John wrote them
this man wrote about first war aeroplanes .
with angled caps the brave pilot Biggles would fly his rattling machines jumping without parachutes and do other such dare devilries .
The cartoon heroes of Mandrake ,phantom,later Archies filled my mind in time with the mushrooming of lending libraries in Madras .
Then I graduated to the wholly yankee sinister plotted James hadley Chase with his description of Bronx burgers and crocodile shoe wearing Sicilian mafia men .
Harold Robbins butted in later when adolescent hormones were bubbling over and the heated bedroom scenes were the first soft porn of our times .
Fredrick forshyths Day of Jackal brought more maturity to asaasins professionalism and thier sniper prowesses .
Those were the days of such films too .
Then came the fat novels of Leon uris like Exodus etc wherien history was melded into fiction
By then I did discover Indian authors and enjoyed many specially Amitav Ghosh and Vikram dutt
Arundhati Roy with her impressionable first book later turned into a secular harlot with dark commie fantasies as her writings and became despicable .
I enjoyed biographies by then and now too do
Though after FB my reading has dwindled a lot
Can I ever end anything on reading without mentioning my most favourite plum affectionately so called by fans of
 P.G Wodehouse .
I will read him till i die .

Misty mount resort Munnar

Misty mountain resort promises mist and by Jove it delivers it !!!




On the curving sinuous tea garden bordered roads from Admiali as you near Munnar town ( about 8km from Munnar ) at Pallivasal on your left side one sees a looming white colonnaded facade rising up almost calling you to take a peek into it and we did that and how.

The first thing that impresses one when they reach the resort is its neatness and order ,be it the lovely red roses and other flowers in their beds or the way the cars are parked neatly with a couple of warm security uncles fussing you with love and welcome and large umbrellas to park in comfort and before you can say mist your bags are ferreted away to the reception leaving you to stretch your legs from the long drive and breath in pure oxygen laden with mist .

Cnce you are in the reception the smiling ladies or the GM greet you with smiles of love and in a jiffy you are going up to your rooms .
The front half with the view are a taddy bit more costly than the rear ones but worth every cent for the ethereal heaven laid before you at any time of the day .



The USB of the resort is this vast tea garden and the valley that lies beyond the road in front and the creamy mist that fills the valley ,in fact most cars weaving its way up stop here to have a look and out come the cameras and mobiles as its the best selfie spot but when you can do all this in the privacy of your room without getting wet in a drizzle it sure beats to stay here .
And once you drink enough of the scenery you can sink into one of the most comfortable beds i had sunk in hotels and i have done that a lot too mind you !

The suite we took was just exquisite with its spacious two rooms with TV and luxurious bathroom and well stocked freebies and mini bar of course 
The front lift is a viewing one and its soft touch buttons make it go up or down while we watch the valley and its mists .
Coming tot the restaurant there are two one for Chinese and continental and there for Indian read keralite and north Indian . 
The variety and taste of the buffet or the breakfast with its live counters and the executive chef personally finding out your needs the hospitality fills you up as much as the food .


In the morning we go up the terrace taking the lift and watch the distant hills undulating tea estates ,there is a trekking path behind and a trek guide form hotel will take you up a path and a walk .
After 24 hours of bliss we reluctantly checked out promising to return again and again 
a sure fire recommendation for this lovely resort

Pranayam ..The Essence of Love

Blessy the  Malayalam film director has surely proved himself to be  a blessing to the  woe begotten Malayalam film industry and its recent descent to subteranean depths in terms of quality .
with his latest film Pranayam he has once again shown his mettle to handle sensitive issues with great delicacy and taste .
Mohanlal one of the finest actors in India today has enough potential in him to do any role and the character he plays in Pranayam is Mathews a retired professor of philosophy with  a  wheelchair bound body possessing  a mind that soars above the mundane .His timely quotes and homilies on matters of life and the lovely English song he belts out ( sung by Mohanlal himself ) with a drawl in his voice etches his role .
His wife Gracy is enacted by Jayapradha who is still a beauty to behold .She essays her role silently dignified in the midst of the tsunami of emotions she goes through as she meets her estranged first husband after years and a distraught son who hates her
Anupham Kher  her first husband who was separated from her by the quirk of destiny brings up his son all by himself .a fine actor Kher needs no more to prove himself the movie becomes greater with his presence .

In the autumn of life the three are brought together and a wonderful friendship blossoms between the two husbands of Gracy a kinship developing out of a platonic love towards a single object
 cynicsm takes over this strange bonding and is  echoed by their childrenbut  the threesome rise above such crassness by their honesty .
The trip they make and the events that follow end in a climax not very expected but touching wuthering heights in the meaning  of love
A very mature movie for a discerning  audience created by a different director ,

see it