An Elegy to the Parotta

 An elegy to kerala Parotta 

You punch it you beat it 

You throw it You mould it

You make it soft and fit

Thin and make it sit

It's not healthy

Say the wise and wealthy

It's not safety

Say the eastie and Northie

But in.malludom

It rules the kingdom

It's eaten in wisdom

It's taken in random 

It's soft and fluffy

It's chewy and Buffy

It can be taken hot

It can be with what not 

It's brown or white

It's layered and bright

It's got egg and butter

It has no clusters

Mutton fish vegetable curry

You can cover it and burry

But it goes best with beef

Roast or fried in plantain leaf

You throw it like a pizza

You have it for a tizza

It's dime a dozen

Comes in Gulf frozen

It's punched and beaten

With fists before eaten 

And once it's cold

To eat you need to be bold 

I love my kerala parotta 

So do most mallu terrata 

Parotta is a passion

Not a momentary fashion 

Eat your maida delight

Make your day more bright

Chew it for lunch or dinner

And You are no sinner 

 just a mallu parotta lover 

And need no cover 

All you need is savour 

It as a mallu flavour 

Long live parotta

Adhu anginne aanu baaai

 Adhu anginne aanu bai

That's the way it is buddy

My last day in the job ..mine 20 Aug 2018 ..I wrote before I left Brunei.

Though not for many years for the last 5 years today was my last day in The Brunei Cancer Center now under Pantai Jerudong specialty center Brunei Darussalam.

Before this, I had the last day in Lakeshore hospital Cochin 12 yrs back and one in Tawam hospital Al Ain UAE 5 yrs back.

The last day last prescription and shutting down the desktop has a sort of finality for the phase.

It's the full stop of one chapter.

I have no plans for the next, in fact thinking back I never had grand strategies in my career.

I wasn't ever pushy never the typical A-type achiever.

The Alpha male no never ever.

I just did what I knew best as honestly as possible .

I always answered to one person , no no not to God or any celestial being but to my inner mind .

Somehow cheating him wasnt easy though I did try on off .

But I have been lucky too to get into places and work with people who were like steps for me to climb up my career .

Maybe if I was more hard working less diverted more focussed on my chosen career instead of indulging in my passions I may have reached higher peaks .

Now I did just climb small hills but I enjoyed the climbs as I had time to gaze at the scenery I had pauses to smell the flowers and I could taste the raindrops .

And I have a blank slate for the future which I am sure has an etch which will reveal in time like hidden writing.

So I am looking into the future with the wide-eyed innocence of a child

Maybe with the foolish vision of an idiot with no strategies but as I gaze into my past I find I hadn't been much different before too.

My career like my writing or my cooking has been spontaneous and impulsive with no punctuation and I just let go so that invisible something shapes my destiny as i am too lazy to do it myself.

Not an inspiring example for youngsters but as they say in Malayalam

Adu anginne aanu bai

Which means

it's like that buddy.

Mookambika Shethram North Parur

Dahskina Mookambika temple is in North Parur also called Paravur in Malayalam .

There is a South Parur in Kottayam dt .

And I think another Parur somewhere near Kasargod not sure .

The place is around 18 km from Ernakulam and is on NH 66 the narrow highway to Guruvayur and beyond .

It's also a nidus of historical happenings and becoming a tourist center under Muziris project .

The intertwined of local history that of Cochin kingdome its attacks by Samorins of Calicut ,Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan ,Portuguese and Dutch finally the British .

The advent of Jews early in century the earliest mosque in India Cheraman mosque is in Kodungallur not very far from Parur .

The migration of Gowda Sarawath Brahmins from Konkan area due to Portugese persecution was from here down to Cochin .

The temple itself was built 500 years back by local king 

Paravur Thampuran an ardent devotee of Mookambika devi in Kollur Dakshina Karnataka .

As he becomes aged he feels sad he is not able to travel to Kollur to worship in his favourite temple and the Godess appears in his dream tells him to build a temple for her in his place and she would be there too .

And so this temple was constructed 

It's a small very cute temple and faces a huge temple tank .

The sanctum sanctorum is in middle of a lotus pond and devotees walk over a small bridge to pray to Devi .There are smaller idols of Maha vishnu  ,Subramanya ,Hanuman ,Yakshi ,and Naga Devata.and Veera Bhadran .

Every day at 7.30 pm Kashaya Nivedhyam to instill wisdom is given as Prasad as Mookambika Amma is Godess Saraswati who is Godess of learning and intelligence and creativity .

The daily Pooja  are conducted by thanthris  of Puliyanoor mana of Thripunithura 

Navratri Puja is main festival and Vidyarambham most important date in year .