pranavs poems

Pranav my nephew battled a brain tumour and lost it last year .....

since then Pranav left us to the unknown

children are meant to outlive us but the rare few do it the other way round leaving an eternal emptiness in our hearts .

my heart goes to his parents with whom I can empathise

but

pranav was different in all senses ,he was cerebral ,( read his poems )

he was understanding and bore his suffering silently so as not to hurt his loved ones

he left behind his thoughts in the little time he had by these words

this post is dedicated to dear pranav .......wherever he is

my rule

where there is pain it has to be beared ( borne )

you cannot run away

so fight it like a soldier
dont tell others

Especially your mother

(because she will cry a river )

We must fight everything

to the end to the maximum

DROPS

A drop of sunshine and

a drop of rain

mixed together

makes a drop of beauty

A drop of beauty

and a drop of joy

mixed together

makes a drop of hope

A drop of hope and

a drop of love

mixed together

makes a mother and father

The weed
There is a little weed

In my head
It is not a seed
or a bead
It made me fumble
and made me tumble
It made me mumble
but I did not crumble
Now I grumble
I want the weed
Now out of my head
As I don't want
to become as muddle-headed
as could be

The waiting
Waiting and waiting
Is such a bore
Waiting for my turn
waiting for the doctor
waiting for the door to open
waiting for the omelette
waiting for everything
It's such a bore
you must understand
with nothing to do
but look into the blue
Now I feel like
changing the clock
around it's core

Clock
I have a little clock
In my tummy
Which always asks at 4'o Clock
For something yummy
It's a little clock
It's my hungry alarm clock.

Moth
My mother ran last night
After a moth
To set it free
The moth flew past
Into the curtain cloth
To get free
Little did it understand
Had it sat still
It would have been free.

My Friend
I have a new friend
A radio therapist at Apollo Hospital
To patients she tends
With a smile that can't be missed
She always speaks to me
While I wait impatiently
I know she goes
To lunch at 1.30
But she comes
In time for my therapy
I have a new friend
And she is called
Mary Grace Vineeta
A radio therapist at Apollo Hospital.

Rage

I think I have a problem
I keep going into a rage
It feels like a mountain range
Falling down like a page
It's not my image
Life is just a fake
It is swatting everybody
I just swat it back

Life
Life is so strange
You don't know
When it will change
And you don't know
When you will be disarranged

April Fool's Day
Dr. Dr. Ductson was walking one day.
I saw him talking to strangers that day.
And then I knew that burgalaries wil happen that day.

I called the cops that very minute and told.
They came running down that road
And caught them and put them on hold.
They then found it was an April Fool's joke.
My Dad's very angry with me because
He had to pay a 500 Rupee note.

The Holiday
I'm off to Norway,
A land far away,
For my birthday,
On 17th of May.
It's Norway's national day.
It’s the land of the midnight sun ,

I'm going to have a lot of fun,
Eating goodies by the ton.
I'm going to see the King & Queen,
And the people scream
A scene I see in my dream.

People
People say and do many things
Some are nice,
Some are like mice.
Some are curious,
Some make you furious.

Some are beautiful,
Some are spiteful.
Some make you cry,
Some are sly.
Some you want to meet,
Some you want to beat.
Some make you laugh,
And some laugh at you.
How strange.
They don't know
It doesn't take long
For what happened to me
To happen to them
Let's see who has
The last laugh.

My Brother
I made a box
With my building blocks
To put my dinosaurs.
But i had to put them on the side
As the box wasn't too wide
I then sat down and cried.

Just then my brother came along,
Seeing me cry, he sat and played a game
Soon I forgot all about the box.

Life is just the same
When the good things come
The bad ones just fade.

Exams

I find my brother's exams
Very very boring.
He is all the time
Shut up in his room
Preparing and studying.
\He has very little time
To roll and jump in our room
Shouting and playing.
I am waiting for them to end.
And the holidays to start.
By then my RT's will end
And happy days will start.

COLLECTION
My brother collects coins,
Some are bright and new,
Some are old and with no clue.
I too want to collect,
But for now I collect points,
For being good and quiet,
My bother gets his coins from people,
I get my points from God.

Colours of my dream
The colours of my dream,
Are like a Solar beam.
Blues and yellows shot with green,
Reds and violets drowned in cream.

They work like a team,
Fall on my weed and make it scream.
Soon it will never be seen
On the screen

Summer Holiday
I'm going away
With my family
For a three-day summer party
We are going to a resort
On the hill-top
Nearby is where the gods fought.
My family
Is my army
It's a twelve member company.
I shall have lots of dreamy fun
Seeing the blue skies,
the deer and the grass,
the moon shine
the sun blaze
and all the happiness around.

My Grandmother

My granny is very sweet,
and she is very neat.

She is very soft and cuddly,
and the food she makes is lovely.
She looks at me and starts crying,
And then she looks again and start smiling.

I want her to smile and smile
And never cry, my darling Ammamma

ME
I told my mother,
If she sits on the other side,
And I turn the table,
Then the tables will be turned.

But will it really turn so?
I don't know.
I looked into the mirror,
And a funny moon face looked back.
I wished I could put it on the rack
Or cut it up with a scissor.

Going to school and playing around,
Are all things passed.
I am a prisoner in my home
Hopefully these things won't last.

Pirate Ship (written post radiotherapy )
I am the captain of a pirate ship,
We are sailing the seas on a trip.
Sometimes the sea is calm and quite,
At othertimes it's like a monster out for a bite

One day as I was swinging from the top,
With my laser gun on my hip.
I saw an octopus pop,
And come slowly to my ship.

It put out it's long tentacles,
Around the ship to break it.
I quickly shot thirty rounds of crackles,
With my laser gun to crumble it.

Now my ship was safe and sound,
But it had a tear and a rip.
So I had to turn around,
To go to port to mend it's tip.

The danger has passed for now,
I am being towed home for now.
But for how long I don’t know,
Maybe till the next monster comes along

My Aunt
I have an aunt,
Who loves to shop and shop,
And when she goes on a hunt,
No-one can make her stop.

She shops for hours,
For many things in many colours,
She shops till her legs ache,
and her stomach bakes.

She is nice and sweet and ready for a ball,
A friendly beautiful person
But when she sees a mall,
She gets transformed into another person.

Then she is there now,
And lost the next second,
thats my aunt for you,
the shopper who can never be found,
unless she is bound.

Cool- Cousins
My thoughts flow,
But sometimes it's like a blow,
Because it tries to flow back,
Which i love to do so.

I had a lovely time,
A happy time,
A jolly fun-filled time,
with my cool-cousins.
I swam in the pool,
Acted around like a fool,
sat in the cool,
with my cool-cousins.

Then the time,
Became a sad time
A parting time
with my cool-cousins.

May be the scanning time will stop,
On the hill-top.
Then i will scan time in a pot,
With my cool-cousins.

Pleo
My aunt gave me a pet dino,
His name is Pleo
The minute I saw him
I loved him so.

She told me to pet him
She told me to train him
She told me love him
And told me to keep him.

I have tried and tried
I have tried my best.
I have tried to do all
But I really really love him.

It's not easy,
But I know what to do,
I will give him back,
Because I love him so

Time

Just for a second
Will time wait for me?
Will it really wait?

For a minute,
For an hour,
For a day,
For a week,

For a month,
or For a year
Just for me.
May be if you are calm and quiet
Time will rest,
Rest is the best.
Espicially if you have a pest.

Nature
Here is May,
Summer is here to stay.
The cuckoos call delightfully
Mangoes fall with a thud loudly

The sun shines brightly
The flowers bloom beautifully
Leaves fall to the ground so

Butterfly and bees buzz merrily.
Raintree flowers carpet the ground completely
Children play around happily
Everywhere the ripe fruits smell lovely
Houses are filled with happy sounds dreamily
Man and nature are joined together nicely.

Beautiful nature
Untouched by the world

Cochin visit

I had been to Cochin recently

to see my family

I spent my timer playing

with my cool cousins

I went to Naval base

to see my cousin and race

but he was in a sun daze

and just wanted to get out of the place

Cochin has green fields

blue green waters

big temples ,narrow roads

and lots of bridges

for my birthday

I sailed away in a boat

still I spent my time playing

with my cool cousins

THREE BIRTHDAYS

Long long ago,
In the Land of Birthdays,
There lived Lord Grow,
The King of Birthdays.

One day he lost his glasses,
And fell on the road.
A big pile papers
Fell out of his pockets into the mouth of a toad.

Lord Grow was very upset,
He had lost something very important.
The list of all the Special Children,
Who were to get an extra special b'day.

He didn’t know what to do.
He thought and thought and
Thought and thought
But still didn’t know what to do.

Suddenly, Lord Grow jumped,
He decided he would just
pick a name out of a bag
And give the child a day to rememeber.

He pulled my name out of the bag
Written on a rag,
And decided to give me
Just wait and see.

It was really really wonderful
To have three b'days in a row,
One at Swamimalai, One at Cochin
And one in a house boat at Alleppey.

So thank you Lord Grow,
For giving me Three b'days in a row,
For making me blow,
32 candles in one go.

Return to Home

Ones own becomes more desirous when one is away from it ,so is Kochi to me these days .The Gulf for the malayalee is never far away and is almost like a neighbourhood ,in three hours one could be back to good old Gods own country .
In thr Gulp too one would almost trip on a mallu ,they existed in abundance .
From grocery shops ,hair cutting saloons ,shopping complexes ,to computer savvy IT professionals the mallu spreads his vocation .
The difference is he turns into a busy bee once he leaves Keralas pristine shores ,no time for him to ruminate on hartals ,neither for croaking zindabads or walking behind his hallowed leaders ,he has a purpose here to make his quarter and do his job ,he does it well and has his fun .
How does this same man or woman change coulor with the whiff of malluland ,what is there in its atmosphere that tempt him to laziness ? these are questions on which phd papers could well be written on .
Questions which have foxed historians over time
The very same mallu who spits out his betel stain on the walls of the KSRTC bus stand or throws his plastic bagged rubbish on the roadside wouldn’t dare to do this in foreign shores ,the very mallu who would meticulously clip his seat belt when he switches the ignition may do nothing of the kind here .
The reason is the no nonsense approach to law and order in those countries .
Follow the rules and live peacefully is the dictum and one gets used to it and even enjoys it after some time
The penchant for mallus to unite to form unions is an inborn one and sadly is the cause for Keralas dismal present ,
where else can you find workers getting nokku coolie
That is you get paid for seeing ( nokka ) the work done by others because the union demands so
Where else can you find attimari terrorists who quote their price for unloading and loading like Caribbean pirates ?
The laws ban this but the practice continues unabated and none dare to question
Another banned item is the bandh ,by juggling its name to hartal and hijacking Gandhijis term for its unworthy causes the present parties use it as their best weapon ,one could declare hartal for anything ,maybe even if the chief minister sneezed hard or the opposition leader farted bad.
Declaration of hartal is welcomed by everyone ,a paid holiday for many, it is a day of lethargy and living it up
And the mallu continues his hartals
Another thing one misses when not in kerala is its rubbish ,I mean of the kind strewn on the roadside ,Kochi is known for the accumulation of this to break records in quantity and duration when it lies in pungent purefaction
Also one misses the roads and non existent pavements
With metro becoming a fading hope the city of kochi is choked with traffic as shortsighted planners play Neros fiddle
But with all this it is nostalgia to be back into the confusion
It is great to be with ones people and friends After all nothing like home what ?

Pot bellies and Holes

Holidays are the best times to grow ones pot ! ( not of the smoking kind )
I meant the vertical protuberance in a mans middle that surfaces to spoil his shape ,
the vestigeal begginings of such a mound in me existed in the subterranean always ,without a need for an archealogical expedition to unravel its truths ,but it began to show itself in full form during the recent time off .
what with the loved ones feeding the man who starved in the desert with a vengenance and the taste buds succumbing to the last temptation it grew defiantly .
cosmetic conservatism was not its forte
soon the profile protruded out of camoflauging costumes and settled down for a long tenure .
"Well ,well havent you grown since I last saw you ? "
snide remarks with a snigger were in the offing , often coming not from Milind somans of six packs but from pot owners with previous oscars .
welcome to the tribe .
Join the gang .
more the merrier dearie
finally a sense of homecoming tends to fall on the new members as acceptance sets in .
The pot always tends to give you a look of somnalence ,of a laziness that was bound to go along with it ,you couldnt appear to be fast and slick with one , it wouldnt suit its company at all
and losing a pot isnt as easy as gaining one ,of course liposuction was an easy option if one could afford it ,one could also emulate the famous Sivagi Ganesan during his obese days ( later in life he looked lean and bearded and better than his younger days ) it seems they used to make him lie down on the studio floor to tie a huge belt to contain his middles to a reasonable shape ,probably his ruddy face in many movies were signs of apoplexy from the said belt tightening as he cavorted with fatter heroines .
But there once was a golden era for pot owners where it was actually considered as a sign of prosperity ,
what is life withhout a pot ?
but sadly those days are just a distant memory .
Yoga ,jogging and push ups were all for pot destruction but men with pots werent generally amused by these exertions .
They are for those without pots !
Strangley the little pet I developed this holiday grew unhampered but rhymed well with another pot special to Gods own country ,the pot holes in the monsoon roads .
On a recent trip to Trissur i bounced on my moorings feeling like a maritian explorer as i navigated a maze of ups and downs with gusto .
the road planners surprise drivers with sadistic diversions acute turnings and highway gymnastics in the midst of construction rubble and poor lighting .
the peoples government hardly has time to think of roads
they have so much on thier hands ,poor things ,
Golf clubs and inherent bars to be barnooshed .
Munnar villas to be mazooled ,
Hartals to be organised and managed and ,sundry matters like maintenance of roads cannot be put on thier way .
The proletarian population always anticipated roads of communism with bumps ,they were symbols to mark its revolutions with .
they existed to remind us of poverty and hunger
Superhighways would corrupt our socialistic souls
mirror surfaced roads reeked of vulgar capitalism and werent fitting for the comrades .
So the roads would continue as it is
and my pot bounced on the pots in mounting exuberance

Driven in Dubai

After getting a driving licence I was raring to roam in Dubai and Abudhabi in the weekends .
Al Ain where I stayed was a drivers delight with wide roads ,neat pavements bedecked with flowers ,palm trees ,and sedate traffic ,but Dubai was a different story , a nightmare for someone who didnt know his way around ,with diversions springing up every other hour ,
it was also huge with multiple flyovers ,tracks ,speeding vehicles and construction everywhere .
Abudhabi was more pleasant with its straight roads dwarfed by multistoreyed buidings .
I did drive a couple of times to Dubai and Sharjah but with a safety mechanism of a friend sitting in the right .
So when this meeting came about in a weekend in Dubai I felt it as an oppurtune moment ,I requested my senior collegue to guide me as I drove behind him .
I could manage to keep pace with his 130km/hr with sudden decelaration for well placed speed cameras .( regulars know exactly where cameras are placed ) it wasnt a cake but I managed ,and in an hour or so I saw the high rises and entered into the city via the famed Emirates road .
This is the main arterial trunk connecting most of the emirates of the UAE and was mammoth with around eight tracks on each side ,giant powerline crossing above ,so many exits left from this road to different places in the city and to other emirates .
Like Marys little lamb I faithfully followed my mentor feeling lost in the maze of speeding cars and lanes , my lead kept changing lanes and roads with full confidence ,I cursed vehicles which tried to seperate me from my umblical cord but finally managed to reach the hotel in one piece with him .
Meeting over at midnight we moved to another hotel near the airport for our stay ,Dubai was as crowded then as it was in the day in fact more so . Friday morning I had the road all to myself
( friday is weekly holiday and mornings are generally empty every place )and I managed to cruise to Deira city centre without much ado ,as my confidence grew I drove back to the hotel .
This is when I got into trouble !
The person who created signboards of direction in Dubai surely had a sadistic sense of humour ,I found a sign pointing a right turn to Garoud bridge on the way Rotana Hotel but the real way which I learned later sadly was straight instead of right

When enquired Dubaites told me but by going right too you can turn and come back to the bridge ,great news !! glad to hear that dearie !!
So In Dubai ,say if you want to reach the nose you have directions in both ways ,round the head or across the face . All you do is choose it .
For someone with an inborn error in directions and a congenital infarct in that part of the brain managing this vital function ,( that is yours truly )this was disaster with a big D .
( u know when someone asks me to turn left as i drive I usually look at my hands to search for left ! )
so I passed my hotel on my opposite side , sadly looking at it because there was no u turn or any way to reach it !
( how nice India is you can u turn or even about turn anywhere u want )
I had no other way but to go up a winding flyover and reach the other side of the moon ,well literally ,I was in a god forsaken place with maniacally speeding vehicles .
I managed to cuddle up in the side with flashing lights and rung up my cousin living in Dubai ,he answered my distress call and told me " harietta stay cool till I come "and I did just that ,difficult with the mercury hovering 45 outside .
He led me by the nose and we came back to the hotel .
He parked his car ,came to mine and sat on my side and we went on a small orbit in and around Dubai .
Burr Dubai ,karama ,Deira ,Airport ,al Muktam ,al Gharoud ,so on and so forth , so many bridges ,tunnels with the metro construction activity going on all around .
The prestigious Dubai metro will shortly become a reality in record time ,look at our Kochi metro zindabad started before the survey itself !!
We went into the Sindhuga tunnel ( this is a tunnel built under the creek connecting Burrdubai to Deira ) and over the floating bridge ( floats on the creek ) .
Dubai was at its busiest on that friday evening with thousands of cars cruising along its roads .
Airconditioned bus stops had a rare few waiting for a rarer bus !

We went via Emirates road upto the turn to Al ain road and returned back to Sheik zayed road with its 8 tracks and huge buildings .
we stopped and posed with the tallest building in the world the Burj dubai behind us .
The blur of cars that zipped past us increased as dusk settled down the clear desert night,there was a ting in the air as the sun receded with the heat .
Dubai has no nights as lamps glowed like sunlight ,people were too busy on thier friday night as they sped past the poster of the architects of this country ,the rulers of Dubai ,hats off to thier vision !to have made a city of dreams from a desert
but after all this driving in Dubai to me is still "to be driven !!!! "

Gods own swamis

Gods own is teeming with swamis and swaminis these days ,multifarious speices with exotic labels surface every day and plush ashrams decorate our tv monitors
The Interpol swami alias Santosh Madhavan was the first one to be unearthed ,handsome with dark locks and a serene beard the cool facade of his demenour hiding facts and truths ,
his confesssions could but would never bring out the men and mice behind him ,for then the skeletons in the cupbboard of Keralas murky politicians and big officials would come tumbling down like the proverbial jack and jill .
So he would go down in history just as a swami who had his fun frolicking with teens in his palatial suites and recorded it for posterity and his slimy underbelly would go hidden and so would his supporters go unexposed .
The man knows this and is smug of the fact that he would be back in action before one could spell Amrita Chaitanya

The gun toting Ernakulam Swami himaval maheswara bhadrananda !!!!

( This guy has a sense of humour indeed ) shoots with his mouth while toting a pistol ,his wrambled dialogues resemble of someone talking in the fumes of marijuana ,his pandora box too would be securely closed to gaurd its contents while the channels replay his pistol antics in the police station where unifromed lawkeepers are all around him but never try to grab his pistol The prime time drama with commercial breaks are in all channels with a pistol shot as climax and the swami nursing his hand .

Chandran swami the clerky swami smiles beingnly as women fall on his feet and wait in que to do just that and then we now have an egg headed palaniswami denying accusations with a gentle smile and telling his interviwer "Swami never asks for all this but his devotees want to give what to do "?

To the minister for religion of Kerlala all this as a GOD given ( sic ) oppurtunity for his take off on swamis in general specially in Kerala ,cant blame him for that because he has enough reason to believe so and the man who has made hindu bashing his hobby was at his best as he prescribed a stake in the posterior for these swamis ( same sentiment arises in many of us for these politicans too )

With fakes masquerading everywhere the gullible fall prey ,if the minister is really sincere he should have a grading comitee which quitely asess the facts behind all religous institutions and try to seperate the wheat from chaffe ,no political connections should be a barrier to this exercise .
One is reminded of recent investigations against divine centre Chalakudy which was said to have revealed large hordes of antidepressants being used by priests to give to many pilgrims attending the sessions ,this was hushed up and a hue and cry made on intimidating minority run institutions .
It is also suspected that much goes behind religious activites in Kerala and much is conviniently hidden by the powers who expose only what they want to .
the unearthly silence of several politcal bigwigs in the present scenario rings the bell indeed .
Religious organisations which are genuine and serving people over time are marred by these accustaions as everyone is attempted to be put in the same basket .
For the powers that have been systematically undermining majority religion and its symbols this has come as a convinient and timely handle ,fair enough .
It is the responsibility of the Government to investigate religous organisations and grade them in total fairness to help the gullible from falling prey .

Swami Vivekanada called Kerala a lunatic asylum ,today it is not one but full of lunatic asylums

reply to tag

I have been tagged by Maddy ..so here goes

1 .last movie you saw in a theatre ?
innathe chindavisayam : when you see a satyan anthikad directed meera jasminse mohanlal acted movie you dont expect anything else but a great movie ,well this preconcieved notion fell flat after seeing this one ,creativity tapers off after some time i think seeing this lacklustre creation of a great director ,actors have done thier bit but a poor story line and poorer direction makes it a tepid one .
2. what book you are reading ?
SUN AFTER DARK by PICO IYER .after reading place falling offf the map i am Iyers fan his travelogues are off the usual both in places and style ,he creates a new genre himself ,this one on his tour to exotic places bring us true insight ,would recommend this to all .
3 Favourite board game ?
Iam bored of them .
4 .favourite magazines ? The WEEK ,Front line ,India Today and National Geographic .
5 Favourite smells ?
lemon ,lavender,smell of food !!
6 .Worst feeling in the world ?
to be helpless
7 . what is the first thing you think of in the morning ?
being an eternal pessimist ,oh god let not the sword fall on me today .
8.Favourite sounds ?
tinkling bells or a distant flute .
9.Favourite fast food place ?
KFC
10.future childs name ?
psst my wife will hear .....( am 50 yrs )
11.finish this statement ..if .i had lot of money .....?
Travel ,travel and help the really helpless
12 .do you drive fast ?
I like to but people say Iam slow !
13 .Do you sleep with a stuffed animal ?
leading a forced bachelor life now the pillow is the only substitute .
14 .Storms cool or scary ?
As long as it doesnt trouble me cool
15 .What was your first car ?
Herald
16 .Favourite drink ?
Grape juice ( Iam Mr Walker )
17 .finish this statement " if I had the time I would ...?
Write my book
17 .do you eat the stems on brocolli ?
if they are tasty why not ?
19 .If you dye your hair what would be the choice ?
golden brown
20.Name all different cities and towns you lived in ?
Chennai ,Cochin,Al Ain ( small list )
21.Favourite sports to watch ?
none ( my son will kill me )
22.One nice thing about the perso who sent you this ?
Maddy .Great writer ,informative, broad minded and somebody I would really like to meet
23.Whats under your bed ?
nothing wish it was gold biscuits
24.would you like to be born as yourself again ?
nopes somebody better
25.Morning person or night owl?
night owl but get up in morning not very late
26.over easy or sunny side up ?
both
27 .Favourite place to relax ?
in front of computer !
28.Favourite pie ?
nil specific all sweet things I love
29.Favourite ice cream
butterscotch
i pass this on to my niece Ujwala

Singh Slaps Sree

Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh has been handed an 11-match ban from the Indian Premier League (IPL) after being found guilty of slapping compatriot Shantha Sreesanth

Harbhajan singh famously known as Bhajji would be regretting that slap on Shantakaumaran Sreesanth ,

costly one what with him losing a fairly big amount and a ban for 11 matches .

Sreesanth broken face swollen cheeks and pouring tears did give the impression of a soft southie getting it from a rumbustous brawnie panjabi ,

what else could poor sree have done he thankfully didnt do a Gandhigiri of turning the other cheek ,The Bhajji would have made a mess of it !

the sardars are known for this kind of language while the mallu is more happier with sarcasm in words ,remember the loudmouth Sidhu who had killed with a blow ,thank God Sreesanth didnt face him or he wouldnt have had to cry .

but what made me write this piece is hardly cricket ,it is something else it is the reaction of Kerala to thier blue eyed boy getting it in the face .

The whole state is gleefully sending mails how he deserves it ! and has been asking for it for a long time ,

see the mallu psyche they have fun when somebody falls !

just imagine what the Tamils would have done ,

Karunanidhi would have wiped his dark glasses and declared war on Punjab in his gritty chenthamil ,

Amma would have become a Durga and made Sasikala tie her hair into a bun before her swearing a la Kannagi ,

Rajani the boss would have flicked a cigarette into air and said "dey naan oru dhadava sonna noorudadava sonna madhiri "and when asked what does this statement mean in this context he would have said this usually goes for all situations ! it was an universal statement he made !

Take Maharastra ,( forget the fact that the Singh led Mumbai team ), if Sreesanth was a Marathi the Thackerays would have roared .

The uncle would order all Singhs to be sunk just beyond the gateway of India and nephew would have opposed it saying that Haji Ali was a better place and they would have fought on that .

If Sree was from UP Mayawati would have tried to find out if Sree belonged to the scheduled caste knowing he isnt she would have asked for reservation for slapped cricketers !

Deve Gowda would have demanded some land in Bangalaru for sree to lick his wounds and would have promptly swallowed half of it

Lalu would have released a special train for Sree to go home to with blinds in the windows and loads of tissue for wiping his eyes

Some central leaders would have said there is a foriegn hand behind Bhajis hand .

BJP leader Jaswant singh would have recited in his baritone voice "Slapping is an ergonomically driven exercise that reeks of poor diplomatic skills and its practioners are deemed examples of poor upbringing and cultaral sereptitude "and hearing is Advaniji would have escaped into the nearest toilet .

One expected the Kerala leaders to voice thier grievances more appropriately ,for example Pinarayi could have reminded Bhajji of Kannur and given him a warning

Achumamma could have blamed the bouregaise game cricket and its imperialistic demanour as the reason for the slap ,he could have told this never happens in say ahem communist China all this in chaste malayalam with a shrug of his shoulders ,

Karunakaran could have pointed out that all this wouldnt have happedned if his son was the sports minister and somebaody else the defence minister ,Guruvyoorappa !

but not a word from any of them

forget all that

Kerala the land of Bandhs didnt even order one !

it was there for the asking ,a ripe reason if any

a state where shutters are closed for reasons like Achumammas constipation or the leaders relief from one did not take up this chance !!!I cant believe it !

why why ? did the architects of bandh fail to react when their own was slapped on his smooth cheek by that brute from the land of five rivers ?

An enignamtic question indeed

please write to me if you have any answers .....

House boat bliss

The last time I was in a houseboat staying for more than three days cruising in the languid waters of the famed Dal lake in Srinagar was in 1983 ,with my classmates in medical college .

Terrorism had effectively killed any future hope of doing the same with the family in tow .

With Kerala offering a similar fare these days we planned to do a houseboat this vacation .

The Muthoot group dream cruise was recommended by a close friend working in it and we took the offer never to regret .

We alighted into the spacious boat at Pallathuruthy just away from Allepey on way to Changanasserry after parking our car safely .

Welcomed with fresh wet towels and cool tender coconut water we got into jùùour boat at 10am ,it had a portico with sofas ,table with a filled fruit bowl ,an AC bedroom ,a toilet fitted with a bathtub ,a small kitchen ,and upstairs two viewing balconies and a dining room .

There were three staff to cater to our needs , the chef was in his uniform and a wide grin ,two others were drivers and helpers ,friendly and at the same time giving us our privacy they were the epitome of service .

As we chugged away into the backwaters the sun was at its zenith ,appetising aromas drifted from the kitchen where Jose the chef was at his best as he concoted a typical Kerala lunch of Karimeen polichatu ,chicken ,sambar ,cabbage thoran spicy piclkes and crispy paapads .these were served with elan in the dining room ,we gobbled them up as the boat swayed in the wake of the waters .

After a small post lunch siesta we woke up and found a native boat anchored to the side of our houseboat ,it had fresh prawns for sale and we bought some and Jose took it into the kitchen to do his magic on it in time for dinner .

we later went in a small canoe along with other houseboat inmates to the smaller canals of the backwaters ,filled with green floating weeds the canoe traversed through the maze hidden from the sun bya canopyof trees ,houses and shops lined the canal so close to us and we could see people moving around ,toddy shops ,small schools ,children playing ,men going about thier work ,women cooking washing clothes .

how does it feel like people staring at you all the time I asked an old lady she grinned and said we dont mind it has brought us life and money .

True tourism has changed the face of Kerala to a large extent ,if only the Government creates a better infrastructure ,it would be a win win situation ,private enterprises have been doing thier bit though some of them do give substandard fare .the natural resources of Kerala is unique and God given but it has not been genuinely utilised ,countries with nothing much to show have better facilities .

We returned back to our houseboat and clambered inside .

We moved on to a wide waterway and anchored for the night as houseboats are not allowed to cruise after dusk for fishermen cast thier nets at night .

As the sun set gloriously ,rain was announced by darkening clouds ,we sipped our tea to the sounds of pelting rain ,breezy winds swaying coconut tops ,and the backwaters in the horizon of the fading light was a sight not to be forgotten .

the rains stopped ,crickets chirped ,waters lapped our boatside as we all sat with our legs dangling dowm watching the blinking lights of the houses in the coast ,the air was soft and romantic occasionaly broken bye the hum of the rare mosquito .

Jose announced dinner we tropped up like a starving army ,scenery sure creates appetite specially for people who dont need much to create that .

Dinner was exotic in candle light served by a hovering three ,the fried tiger prawns were golden and gorgeous chappatis soft ,dhal delicate and chicken crunchy .

Music wafted from the banks from a distant radio as Yesudas belted a very apt song of

ayyiram padaswarangal aluvapuzha pineyum ozugi as a lullaby for us to drift off to a restful slumber .

Morning saw us climbing to the viewing balcony at top to watch a crimson sun starting its day .

A hearty breakfast of fluffy white appams ,and spicy egg curry mellowed our disappointement as we forged back to our starting place .

It was a 24 hour delight indeed thanks to Muthoot dream cruise .