The Lido Show ......Paris

The Lido show

To me any tour through viator has never been regret, especially Lido.

I thank my stars that i booked into this wonderful show which made my evening remarkable,

Paris is a city of romance and love, to go to a world renowned night club with the love of one’s life my wife of 34 years was a treat

Unimaginable,

i would always preserve the moments when i was at this club and the experience Viator offered me and i would strongly recommend the same for any couple like us .

To start with it was a breezy cold evening and we were told by our hotel in Montparnasse called Novotel that Lido in champs de Elysee was just walking distance away,

i would say the receptionist has a great walking routine which accounts for great distances for Lido was nowhere near where he said ,as we trudged in the chilly evening the only thing that kept us doing it infinitely was the beauty of the city and its twinkling lights of its major roads ,but when a time came that we may miss out on the very purpose of the evening we once again asked a friendly French gentleman who told us to either take a cab ot jump into the metro and get there fast as waking would take hours ,

so we did just that in minutes we took a metro ,and after two stations changed lines and traveled for around nine stations before reaching George v metro station

Paris metro bought us to Champs Elysee road the ultimate in fashion glamour and glitter ,on one end we could view the famous Triumph DE arch and on both sides were the most elegant showrooms restaurants and studios in the world ,

Lido was right across and we quickly went in to give our Viator confirmation voucher,

we were a bit early for the show and so had some time for some pictures for posterity and finally we went in

The show would begin at 9 pm

They opened at 8 pm sharp

Once we went in we were shown our table and a glass of the sparkling champagne was poured

The glowing wine was really mature and sweet

Lido started in 1946 ,it was a post war liberated and gay France which was out to become the pleasure and fashion capital of the world and moved to the current location in 1977

It was started by joseph and Louis Clerico brothers and in 2006 Sodexo the international food chain bought it and invested more than 24 million euro to make the present show.

It was closed between December 2014 to April 2015 to produce the new show choreographed by by Franco Dragone

There are two shows every day and each lasts for one and a half hours Dinner version and Drink version are both available

The famous Blue bell girls are part of the troupe,to be a blue bell girl is a honor and they are selected form all over the world for their height most are six foot tall ,Margaret Kelly organised the blue bell girls and was called as Miss blue bell herself their the dresses and costumes the feathers the rhinestones are all costly and made with taste

There are special effects lighting moving stage and audience areas rain lightening rainbows and its a mix of exotica and a visual delight and a medley of songs and trained dancers to do their bit

There was a Finnish sword swallower

An acrobatic couple did their bit

And a lead opera singer who sang so well in her high pitched sopranos

There were lovely sets with water, fountains etc which changed so quickly and magically

The dancers were all trained ballet artistes

There were hip hop dancers pantomiming artistes etc

The dresses were glamorous colorful many tall fashionable ladies were bare chested but never appeared vulgar

It was highly artistic entertaining and the service was exemplary

I would recommend anyone visiting Paris to visit Lido show .

Roman colloseum

Roman Holiday 
Rome the city of gladiators of popes of senators of dictator like Mussolini of Julius caesar of Cleopatra and Mark Antony needs no introduction.
Rome with the vatican city as its neighbour the smallest country in the world with 900 citizens and a most important religious leader of the world the pontificate of Roman catholics the holy pope himself .
Isnt these two enough to make this city intresting ?
We all have our impressions on this great city of a great country Italy 
I too had 
I knew it was the twins who were flown in a basket in the river Tiber who would later build Rome on its banks 
I knew it was the powerful Romans whose Governor would crucify Jesus christ for his breaking their rules but later adopt the religion of their own crucified victim and a part of their city would become the high office of christianity .
But nothing prepared me for the day 
It was a day I discovered this piece of history
A day i stumbled into a time machine that zipped me back to men of iron muscles and corded veins fight lions with brave hands of opulent emperors luxuriating in the orgies of food and excesses .of battles fought in the country and abroad of riches plundered beautiful women achieved and land conquered 
The times when people let out yells of joy on seeing their gladiators drawing blood or lions crunching on their slaves skulls .
We reached Colloseo station from Bologna station by Metro .
We had bought a 15 Euro 48 hr unlimited Metro ticket each which was the best way to travel 
Rome has two metro lines blue and red .
On reaching Colloseo station .we moved up to road bordering the towering ancient well known ruin itself .
Strangely the half destructed building by an earthquake ,numerous battles ,and later by stone thiefs had recently undergone massive reconstruction and restoration and achieved a very remarkable result .
The real name of the building was Flavium Amphitheatre as built by Flavic kings .
Just before its construction Rome was ruled by the narcissist megalomanic dictator famously known for playing fiddle when his country burned by name emperor Nero .
Nero had constructed a very huge opulent extravagant palace with a mammoth statue of himself alieniating to people .
This collasal self aggrandisement later came to be used for the amphiteatre in the place of his palace as an atonement to his arrogance 
Hence it was collosal it became popularly called colloseum .
The colloseum for a long time was a state of art entertainment sports exhibition centre .
Its innermost and closest to performers was for the emperor and family ,royals ,and middle rows 
For midlle class and top most rows were for the poor .
What did they come to see and how .
The bottom of the colloseum had a wooden floor but under it was a labyrinth of caves tunnels and gate for bringing in animals .
The said animals would at times be lifted in to a make shift elevator and appear on the wooden stage to fighting bouts of gryesome battles .there would be gladiator contests and the crowd would yell blood curdling whoops of murderous cries prisoners and slaves for public execution would be bought at lunch times for a public display
And scenes would rise from below using hydraulic pulleys to produce a perfect show .
The vestal virgins were the only women allowed close to gladiators as most Romans had no reason to encourage their women from setting eyes on handsome gladiators
Its said one kings wife confessed to her husband that she had amorous thoughts on a said gladiator 
The king promptly ordered the gladiator killed and made the queen bath in his blood as adviced by a magic man but the queen was pregnant and later brought out a baby stunningly looking like the gladiator who had the final laugh .
The thumbs up and down sign also camr after peoples reaction to gladiators battles 
Such were the games played in the colloseum .
After an exhaustive walking tour led by a Phd in Archeology as our groups guide we walked on to the famous Roman forum in palatine hill 
Bordering on it was the arch of triumphmany Romsn ruins temples palaces royal houses in a huge area of hilly land 
In the christian era the colloseum became a religious center with violent games put an end to 
Even to this day his highness the Pope starts his way of cross duting easter from here .

Roman colloseum was like a massive stadium built during
72 AD completed in 80 AD under three kings callled Flavian kings and hence also called Flavian theatre .
It was meant for gladiator fights prisoners fighting raging lions duels to death and such gory spectacles

It could hold upto 50000 to 60000 spectators

By the end of it we were back to metro on colloseo station to catch a metro to ottavia which was reached after switching to a red line at Termini station .
This was for our afternoon tour of the Vatican but thats another long story which I shall tell

Murano vase

The Tale of the Murano Vase

Murano island off venice
1.5 km by speed boat
The world famous venetian glass making is centered in Murano island .
Venice has always been known for its excusite creativity in crystals and glass making.
It had families involved in this since mediaveal times
From glasses in churches palaces houses chandeliers that were huge and beautiful which adorned European chateus to fine pieces of art small and big .
It was 1291 that the glass makers of venice were requested to move into an island for them as the furnaces in thier factories always spelt danger in a thickly populated venice .
The families involved were highly respected in society and were eagerly sought for marriage from the most elite rich families of Venetians .
They practiced their art became rich and lived a happy life .
Though discouraged from moving to other parts of the world thus carrying thier art away many still did and today are the most respected glassmakers around the world .
When we were in Venice premila was very particular to visit Murano .
Luckily our hotel had a free transit by boat to the island to its customers as a marketing technique
All we wanted was to see the place and glassmaking process and buy some small souvenuirs .
We reached the island and stepped into the factory that brought us here .
We saw the glass blowing itself a fine art and the creative making of small horses etc .
Like magic figurines came alive from the delicate nuances blowing bending of the hot glass
Flowers small vases dancers animals were all made in a jiffy .
We then were led into a showroom with huge rooms full of Aladfin treasures of very costly excuisite pieces .
And then we both fell in love with one vase coloured bright like a peacock standing proud on a shelf .
The salesperson was quick to spot our intrest and explained to us its make and about its maker who was a legend who also was one of the demonstrators that day
The price in Euros was way above our budget as we never thought we would buy aby big piece .
The owner came around took us to another room showed the piece in detail the play of light on it its colours and its creativity.
We told him we liked it but had two issues
We were still in the second city in Europe and had four more so how could we carry this breakable costly piece around secondly it was quite costly .
He told us i can ship it for you home but it would be costlier too .
We did some Indian bargaining and used our combined charms in making him bring the price down a bit though he expressed the words oh you Indians in a good way .
Finally we did buy it safely securely packed by them stuffed it into a hand luggage and managed to bring it safely to Cochin through Brunei !
The best part we took a foto with its creator
Thats the tale of the Murano vase .

Doctors in india

How society treats a Doctor in India today ?

I have often heard mentioned that medicine is a noble profession
It may be though I think it’s just another profession which involves dedication, hard work, common sense and ethical behavior as it involves human suffering and lives.
Another common attitude of society is doctors need to be noble!
Now what does that word mean, it means to be fair and have high thinking.

Fine, some among doctors are that but many arent which is but natural considering today's society, doctors who are part of it arent born or bred differently!
Shades of greed, corruption, or arrogance are to be expected amongst them too.
One cannot castigate the whole profession as not being noble, whatever that means.
If we consider medicine as another profession we need to accept the dark and the bright side of it but if we expect an ethereal divinity in doctors we would be sadly disappointed

Now let’s look at how doctors are being treated by the society which expects them to be noble!
Society cannot accept a doctor making money or living a good life or having his own time .
 That doesn't fit with the nobility of their thinking
 How do they pay back the noble souls?
They hit them when anything untoward happens
 They destroy their property, they accuse them and when the doctors get exonerated they just forget whatever they did and continue to expect him or her to deliver in full!
This is from all walks from the powerful and the powerless, the media the law the politician the common man are all mostly united in this.
Why should any doctor who has given a lot of time or and money to become what he is have any loyalty to such a society?
Why should he not have his own time to spend just because a society most selfish in the times thinks he shouldn’t have?
Why can’t he make money out of his skills?
Why can’t he spend it?
He can, and he should ,as long as the doctor has not exploited his patients or cheated them .

Another myth being spread even by the Prime minister of the country is that doctors are prescribing costly branded drugs in collusion with multinational pharmaceuticals and making money and hence the Government has forced it to prescribe only generic drugs ,
Let me just explain how easily the people are fooled even the educated,
Generic means the original chemical molecule
for example if one wants to write paracetamol if generic one can write paracetamol and not any brand preferred by the doctor like Panadol calpol etc which are brands of paracetamol
Now the doctor who is aware of the good companies producing the drug has lost his chance of selecting the same for the hapless patient but the local chemist is now the person who chooses it!!

As India is still not a country where the Government decides on only good quality few generic molecules but has thousands of choices from fly by night operators who make starch tablets with no ingredients to the most pricey high quality ones
And dear patient today that is decided by your friendly neighbourhood mostly untrained pharmacist for you, giving you the good news
Since you all believe in them more than doctors who you feel arent noble and are cheats please enjoy!

Now the pharmacist is going to sell off the drug which gives him the maximum percentage or gifts which may include spurious ones as the drug controllers who monitor him are mostly corrupt too
do you know dear people that anyone can start a drug company with a capsule machine and minimum licences and fill it with starch or chalk powder in this country and call it any name or if i don’t want to start a company there are small one shed pharmaceutical which will manufacture any drug in your name for example you want paracetamol in your name go ahead it can be done like if chandran wants paracetamol he can call it chandramol and it may have paracetamol or sand no worries
this has been going one ,one TV channel showed this recently .
Only filter society had to see through all this was the doctor who is considered as the biggest thief around and so the new rules has given the choice to pharmacists.
But if the drugs produce an untoward reaction or does not act well act then the doctor can be hit or his hospital or clinic can be destroyed hes there waiting to be hit

Without knowing anything of this every small time street corner orator rants and raves of doctors making money on branded drugs
What a foolish country India is

It’s also high times Indians become aware that India is the cheapest country for sophisticated medical care and good skills
Those abroad would know this and understand its value
Most doctors working in such hospitals arent paid that highly and are paid according to their qualifications

The pay of Indian doctors compared to their equal counterpart professionals like Chartered accountants lawyers marketing or IT professionals is much low
Its only highly skilled super specialists who make decent money and they deserve to too
The worst are the junior doctors,the interns , the Government college student  doctors who are treated like scum with unfair working hours unheard in any civilized country of more than at times 36 hours with inadequate rest or food and made to work with high stressed departments with the fear of being physically attacked by mad public at any time or being ranted and raved by illiterate imbecile politicians ministers or their thugs
I saw today in TV the health minister of a state putting on a show in a hospital shouting at the staff for not being in the seat like they were juveniles, these kinds of publicity stunts covers up the gross mismanagement in government hospitals poor infrastructure corruption and siphoning of money by these unworthies

Did the doctors study for so many years and so hard that they should suffer at the hand of such worms?

Most corporate hospitals today are thronged by people
Many of them charge exorbitantly to a certain extent
They do it for profit
Again they are hardnosed business men with investments needed for state of the art care which doesn't come cheap

One cannot compare the private hospitals with Government set ups which are run shoddily not by doctors but by the very politicians the society elects, die for and vouch for and vote for again and again
Why is it their anger is not directed against those politicians and parties who promised them the sky and later made them run to private hospitals,
Do they know that these politicians dont even have their or their family medical needs met by the sophisticated hospitals in the country but go abroad for the same to pay ten times the same amount while leaving the poorly paid overworked badly managed government hospitals for those who had voted them to power?
, why is it that the common man who expects noble doctors shy from  asking them questions
Because they will get back from them in kind,
So they fear power
They can act only against the unprotected poor doctor to vent their frustration
In the process they put off the doctors in a more protective mode and the costs rise further and doctors refuse to take risks and it costs the patient dearly
In a country full of quacks untrained pharmacists corrupt drug controllers health officers and ministers and MLAs thieving policemen and politicians even with a few doctors who are sincere are put off by this stupid attitude of the society
Why should the doctor bear all this?
Why does he need to toil day and night for an ungrateful society which is jealous of his having a good life and expects him to be noble sacrifice for no returns?
Violence against doctors has risen hundredfold with the law looking the other side
Doctors have been murdered blinded maimed hit kicked dragged along the ground stoned by arrogant bystanders and their thugs
Probably the only profession which can be taken up as sitting ducks and that which does not react today is the medical field and doctors in particular due their lack of unity and if this goes on for long they have no other way out but to unite and shirk work
Its then that the society will realize it had killed its golden goose chasing for those elusive eggs

Ancestral neighbours

Raja Ravi Varma

Historical fiction has always fascinated me though I am yet to delve into hard core research into any story so far unlike one of my fellow blogger Maddy an engineer in USA hailing from Calicut .

Iam at present reading a book on the famous Travancore Ranis by Manu Pillai  I came across the word Parappanad !

I hail on my maternal side from Parappanangadi and have nostalgic memories of the village ,

I also knew about the Parappanad thampuran though I had never met him or any one from that family ,

their palace was just north of our ancestral house which was called Thekkepat Kovilakkam

 thekku in Malayalam is south ie south of the parappanad kovilakam !

We used to pass the vast grounds of the kovilakam itself while walking to the railway station from our house as those days there was no motor able road like now .

Parappanad royal family i learnt had  mainly two branches the northern Parappanad in Beypore near Calicut and the southern Parappanad in Neduwa Parappanangadi which incidentally is the heart and soul of my maternal native place .

Kerala Varma

The Travancore royal family like most Kerala royal clans were strictly based on matrilineal system of succession and girl children was not only favored but were a necessity to carry on the lineage ,

so when there were lack of suitable girl children in family there used to be a system of adoption of the same form other royal families and Parappanad family who hailed from the kolathiri Rajahs were a favorite

from the fifth century on when two princesses were adopted by the Travancore royal family

in the 9th century AD cheirya koil thampuran landed in Travancore

The main exodus of parappanad thampurans came in 964 Ad during Tipus invasion of Malabar and forcible conversions ,

it is at this time an exodus of parappanad kings went to their familiar kingdom with which they had an alliance of long fleeing from a  cruel enemy

The many rajahs married in kilimanoor palace and some of the offspring's like the Great Marthanda Varma and his nephew Rama Varma were all products of such alliances

kerala Varma or velliya koil thampuran famously known as kalidas of keralam for his translation of shakumtalam and the famous artist Raj Ravi Varma were all proud of their connection with the parappanad royal family

Amusingly there are snippets that would suggest the real lineage of parappanad thampurans is up from north the Rajputs themselves but I am yet to gleen facts

But its good to know more on ancestral neighbors

 

Kerala Monsoons

Kerala is known for its monsoons
The season I love to be in it .
After the blistering humid heat that pervades the state from late march malayalees start looking at the sky for those elusive clouds by middle and end of may .
Unlike Tamilnadu .Andhra .Karnataka (excluding dakshin kannada ) kerala has this unique rains which used to start in mid may in the past but getting later and later of late .
This comes from the south west monsoons which enter through the southern tip of India moving into Trivandrum the capital of the state and amusingly tracing a path up the western coast till it leaves kerala drenched and happy in Kasargod continues through Mangalore Goa western maharashtra Mumbai and then central india later exiting through West Bengal .

In Kerala this season lasts at least till August till Onam the harvest festival .
A brilliant travelogue by Alexander Frazer an Australian travel writer chasing the monsoon is one of my most liked books for here the author like the rest of Kerala waits in Kovalam Trivandrum gazing up at the sky to watch for the bursting of the monsoon in end of may .
His plan is to move along the path of the monsoon with it and he does it a scurry of travel in trains buses taxis cycles autorikshaws at times walking drenched too .
what a brilliant way to explore a place !

And I think best time to visit Kerala should be its monsoon for one ,its off season and prices are down ,for another the mallu is always more amiable once the rain cools him down !

Iam sure even the political murders in the killing fields of Kannur or the potshots in the assembly take a downturn with the rains .

To the malayalee varsham or mazhakaalam is the harbringer of fertlity for the earth needed for his harvests
By edavapaadhi or may middle he starts waiting like a pregnant mother for the fat drops of water from the heavens but as it moves to karkadakam month around mid june july its also the season of wants as the heavy rains for days take their toll .

The poor have no work or food and exist miserably in their leaking thatched houses .

Its the season of starvation where big tharavaaads or families accomodate their workers in their abodes when threatened with floods give them food and clothes .

I remember during my childhood holidays in Parappanangadi the huge verandah and backyard covered area on our massive house would accomodate many wet children and dark glistening parents for days on end being served with hot kanji and other food .

That was the equation those days between workers and landowners not the feudal slavery as depicted by the communists who effectively spoilt this relationship and replaced it with arrogance of labour and today there are no more harvests .
the landlords get their rice from nearby states while most workers toil for some distant Arab in hostlie conditions the rest exist by  labour terrorism in kerala .

The monsoons transform the state into more greener shade than its usual and more etheral
Brown just leaves
The dripping rain its puddles flowing rivers the chill in the air the peeping sun the gushing waters the sound of the incessant rains are the visual and auditory nostalgia every Keralite carries in his heart .

Theres no malayalee who fails to love his varshakaaalam .
Generally june 1st is when schools open in Kerala after summer holidays
Its almost sanctostat that the children in thier new uniforms and umbrellas go drenched to school on day one
Rains also is season of piety for many Hindus where the reading of epic Ramayana is carried on in many houses and temples as in earlier days people stayed home during the rainy season.
Theres a pilgrimage to naalambalam  or four temples on same day those for Raama.lakshmana shatrukna Bharatha.in Thrissur dt which is carried on in monsoons .
Ramayana discourses happen in many temples
Its also an excellent time to go for a boat cruise in backwaters with prizes rock bottom one can glide along the rumbling waters while dark clouds bring forth buckets of rain on the bobbing boat tucking into hot fresh fish caught then and its ambrosia of a different kind

So go to kerala during the rainy season next time  .

Ambalapuzha payasam

Ambalapuzha is a town near Alapuzha in kerala its well known for a krishna temple .

 Ambalapuzha temple

Its more known for its main offering or nivedhiyam its paal payasam otherwise known as milk kheer

The payasam which one gets as prasadham here for which there is great demand is the most tastiest
Many of its namboodhiri brahmin priest cooks have been taken up by other temples and they know the technique well but the taste was never as good as in Ambalapuzha

I had tasted it too
In fact once i travelled from Cochin to Ambalapuzha a distance of 100 km in a KSRTC transport bus just to collect the prasadam we booked in the morning .

Its making is meticulous from collection of pure milk in morning in accurate measurements , using temple well water to dilute it and allowing it to concentrate for four hours to thicken
Then the sugar is added
The priests call out vasudeva before the sugar is brought as a tradition .

The brown rice is put 3/4 an hour before and a big bowl is taken to the lord as offering

At that time an eagle is seen on the sky every day

Once offering is made and puja over the prasadam is ditributed as per booking

How did this offering come into vogue ?

Lord krishna once appeared as a sage to the king ruling Ambalapuzha and asked him to play a game of chess
The king agreed and asked the sage what should be the prize for the winner
The sage told him it should be one grain of rice in first sqaure of chessboard and its double in next and so on

The king was amused as he was willing to give costly prizes

The sage won naturally
The rice grains were attempted to be kept but to the kings surprise he knew the whole granary of his kingdom could not give the trillions of grains needed by end of last sqaure
Lord Krishna revealed himself and told him to seve paal payasam in the temple every day to pilgrims till the day he gives all grains promised and that he would come every day to take same .

The temple was built by champakassery pooradam thirunal Devanarayanan thampuran in 15 to 17 century and lord vishnu is in form of parthasarathi with a conch in one hand and a whip in other hand .

During Tipu sultans raids and mayhem in north malabar Guruvayoor temple idol was brought here for safekeeping for twelve years.

Once on way back from sabarimala one of my friends knew the veliya thirumeni or chief priest and we went to thier mana or huge mansion of a joint family and were served one of the most tastiest vegetarian lunch i had ever tasted and in the end we had the famous  Ambalapuzha payasam from the house of the chief priest himself as a portion of the prasadham comes to his house every day .

My Mother

What do i say about my mother this day
She loved to study and did for some time in Bombay
She loved english classics tess of d abervilles
Mayor of casterbridge Grimms tales
She loved fun and frolic and cheer
But never knew what all she had to bear

Married at sixteen to my dad
She said then she was very sad
That she could study no more
Those days it was so no use being sore

But she didnt know then the greatest learning would be her life
As she used to say from a man who she was fortunate to be a wife
My dad was intelligent honest patient calm gentle hard working
My mother was young ambitious colourful charming but never lurking

Her impatience was tided by his gentleness
Her anger was softened by his calmness
He taught her to accept and be happy
He taught her to stop being snappy

He taught her humility never grieving
He made her realise simple living
He encouraged her to study more on the side
And she passed matric by his side

She couldnt do more as dad fell sick
And in her thirties he left us all like a trick
An young widow with little children to care
Me ten my sister fourteen is an ordeal to bear

She stood steadfast all alone in a city
For she wanted to give us the best for eternity
She managed our needs
Never giving wrong advices a heed

Today what we are shes the cause
Her life she gave for us a loss
She looked after my children too
Her stories of tess aberville to woo

She travelled wrote wanted to learn computer
She was full of life with no tutor
She gave us the best before she left us forever
With loads of memories and tears which dry never

The king of vocabulary ...shashi tharoor

Shashi tharoor the MP from Thiruvananthapuram is the quintissential mallu a prodigal who returned to Kerala after a childhood and upto his late middle age living in most places around the world .
His early life in the world of books with an uncle   a senior in the Readers Digest inc and a dad in advertising and journalism would have contributed to his vast instant vocabulary of course augmented by the excellent educational institutions he studied like st Stephens and in the US  .
With a natural talent in writing and  espousing in faultless and intresting oratory coupled with handsome looks a senior UN career there wasnt a looking back in what he did .

So when he came back and plunged into the murky dark slush of Indian politics specially in Kerala which had the major population in it  who prided themselves in being handicapped in the queens language or were those who spoke it with an accent meant to expose thier origins.

So Sasi tharoor with his non cattle class flipping hair life style, impeccable accent and coiuffuered presence made the locals look at him with awe and they  promptly voted for him and his party to power the congress being one of the two possibilities their limited poitical awareness allowed them to do so

And Shasi with all his worldly talents never made a New York out of Thiruvanathapuram but frolicked around like a playboy with glamorous people in a jet paced life .

And now when the skeletons in his cupboards kept knocking he camouflagued facts by verbiosity .

Suddenly all those who looked at him with suspicion stood stunned on that ferrago word from him and rushed to get a dictionary

This is the second time the man is using this method of collective verbal mesmerism
the first was of course his coining the word cattle class for the aaam aadmis economy travels in flights .
And as mallus debate on whether ferrago suits Achumamman or pinarayi Shasi might just be writing another book or pushing the skeletons deeper into the cupboards .
With the kind of judiciary in our country and investigative agencies with most of the sensational cases getting buried along with the victims we all know that none of Arnobs histrionics nor Shasi tharoors verbal magic will make any closures to Sunandas enigmatic departure .
Its just one more thamasha for the nation that wants to know but never will
The sad people in it are of course Sunanda and her poor son
Ferragos will come and go in cattle class

Thanks to  cartoon from online

Thripunithura clock tower

The Thripunithura clock tower or Manimalika is a landmark in Thripunithura near the entrance of Sree Poornathrayeesa temple .
Being the  capital of Cochin state and home town of Cochin Maharajah during the past it had its own time
It was built between 1864 to 88 by Sree Rama varma
Dutch clock makers participated
It has a puppet soldier who salutes every hoir of the day
It is saod Arjuna oprned his poorni or sacred thread hence called poorni thara later after toysl family took up abode here it become yhri poornithura
Arjuna had come here to look for a suitable place to consecrate the Krishna idol he carried and thus came Sree poornathrayeesa temple
This temple toen drips of history and culture
Drums emanate from houses kathakali mohiniyattom carnatic classical music ftom classes halls music college etc
Palaces are so many more like cottages most have only numbers like palace no 13 ..14 etc
Surrounded by backwaters its narrow streets bustle with traffic traditionaly clad beautiful women chirpy children
And with the metro to shortly reach its end here we made a great descision to become a  Thripunithurite

Coffee tea and me

To me tea or coffee has to be just the way I want them to be
Iam a dictator here
No compromises.
Just the right temperature the right time it should be served
like I love to sip them with my food
 breakfast or whatever neither before nor after

This sort of fad is a big irk for many .

For one my wife keeps calling me till I come immediately once  the coffee or tea hits the table .
 In a hotel its always too early as in Brunei where the drink comes first or ,too late as in Chennai where people drink tea or coffee as a dessert mostly to wash thier dosas down .

This quirk is shared by some in my matrileneal family ,we mallus being more possesive of this branch of our progeny .

But to others this seems almost a perversion !

Having said about timing let me talk of the tea I like
I like tea coloured a tinted yellow red which proclaims its strength ,having tasted the pure strong tea from the cardomom hills of wayanad or the stepping Tata tea estates of verdant Munnar which is transported to the torrid planes and auctioned in Cochin where I lived half my life .

Either its because I rubbed shoulders with the tea tasters who have a stiff upper lip when it comes to quality  or because tame tepid sweet tea puts me off as much as an Adoor Gopalakrishnan movie does  !

The Kannan devan hills with its thatched tea shops smoke emanating and merging with the mist of an early morning would be my mother of all teas !!

The version tea thariq served in Brunei or UAE with its syrupy milkmaid treacled sweetness makes me a bit sick !

As far as coffee is concerned having grown up in mylapore in Chennai nay Madras in my days where mother of filter coffees are concoted by conservative madi sari maamis with a vengeance unsurpassed , and having imbibed this ambrosia in my childhood , my taste buds sneer at tame imitations of this ,
 leave alone imitations ,the bitter concotions of modern coffee houses including the famed  starbucks which is the fad of the yuppy crowd ,makes me pity their sorry destiny in calling the said beverage as class !!

Similarly the mallu makes horrible coffee with powder not filter even the  instant  variety is murdered by him with no mercy and the milk is as watery as the periyar during monsoon which makes me  run a mile !

So from a mallu go for a tea and from a maami go for a coffee .!

Purinjudha

Manasilayyo

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