Diwali, the festival of lights, is believed to be based on this philosophy. There are several mythological tales and folklore associated with this festival; but curiously enough Kerala is one state where this festival is pretty low key. The stories I have heard as a child have associated Diwali to the triumphant return of Rama to Ayodhya after killing Ravana; and then in Hindi class in School, we were also taught about Narakasura Vadh and how Goddess Bhoodevi killed Narakasura and the earth rejoiced the death of this evil Asura. As the world shrunk, and we got more cosmopolitan and got exposed to a few more cultures in India, I also got to hear of Kali pooja in Bengal and Lakshmi poojan in Maharashtra and Gujarat. From mythological tales, we came down to earth, and began associating these to local customs especially to rural India; Diwali acquired the nuances of a harvest festival, similar to Onam and Pongal but at the end of the Kharif season. The harvest had just been completed, and people were celebrating and offering thanks to Mother Earth for a bountiful crop or perhaps asking for such prosperity to continue in the future too.

With the passage of time, and inter-mingling of cultures, these festivals also get exported, modified, acquired new meanings and morphed and finally merged into the local milieu. The best possible example of this is possible Ganesh Chathurthi. Once a very low profile festival, probably associated more with Modak (Kozha kattai and Sundal in the south), this today has become a major festival, which also engages all the people in the society (with all those processions, traffic hold-ups, and at times, lathi charges) whether they like it or not. Credit for this becoming a major festival in the Indian calendar is ascribed to Bal Gangadhar Tilak who at the height of the freedom struggle, used this as a vehicle to revive nationalism, patriotism and got all Hindus together into the freedom struggle. I think advances in technology and communication did the rest. With TV becoming a powerful medium, the culture of Ganesh rath yatras became a phenomenon in the south too. In the last 10 years or even less, we have witnessed this becoming a major festival in Chennai too, with gigantic Ganesha idols being taken in procession to be immersed in the sea.

So, is Mohan Lal going to bring Diwali to Kerala(or should that credit go to Oceanus)!!! I found it quite amusing to see Mohan Lal dressed in white kurta against a backdrop which reminded me more of Al Burj Hotel, Dubai (it may have been Cochin or Ernakulam I need to take a closer look) than anything that even remotely resembled traditional Diwali (except for those diyas). The folks at the Ad agency decided to maximize the time slot Lal ettan gave them, and had him wishing the entire country for all the significant festivals in the same shot. They then probably decided to change the backdrop to suit the occasion. I guess, they forgot to change Lal ettan's clothes. Well, they just might have succeeded in sowing the seeds of Diwali in Kerala. After all, who else but a Mallu is going to be watching these Ads repeat themselves on Asianet and Surya TV? And we can blend this nicely with the preparations that begin just after Thulam where they clean up the field, burn all the dead leaves and prepare for the next harvest.

However, how do we associate a mythological tale to this?

Why did Lord Rama not return via Kerala? Rama's incarnation took place after Parashuram, so logically, a Kerala should have existed then; and he could have very well passed through that region on his way to Rameshwaram and then to Sri Lanka. Or was it that even then Mallus in Kerala were famous for their trade unions and red flag marches, and Sri Ram decided not to have his yatra delayed by Bandhs and strikes? I guess he knew that these guys were not so good at construction work as the Bihar, Orissa and Tamil folks and decided to restrict his recruitment of volunteers predominantly from these regions. However, I am sure, the Mallu used the bridge to get to the other side as soon as it was constructed and set up tea shops there!

With so many Bhagavathy temples, Devi pooja is also quite prevalent in Kerala, as it is in Bengal. Yet we could not find Narakasura's death (by Bhoodevi) or the slaying of Shambhu and Nishambhu (by Kali) as sufficient reasons to celebrate Diwali. Why?

Oceanus seems a rather weak reason.can we find something that is more solid?!!!

I also leave you with another doubt that recently cropped up: If Kerala is believed to have been carved out from the sea by Parashuram's axe, then how come we celebrate Onam and attribute it Mahabali. Parashurama's avatar came after Vamana avatar, which means that technically Kerala should not have existed then.

Wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous Diwali. And if possible, try and keep the decibel levels low. celebrate with more lights.and less sound!

Asat toma Sat gamaya
Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya
Mrutyo Ma Amrutam Gamaya

Om Shanthi Shanthi Shanthih.

I had just returned from a visit to Kerala. And for someone used to taking a shower in a bathroom, a bath in the village tank (or pond) was a delightful experience. And I made sure, I had my cousin take me to the temple tank every single day of my stay over there. Surprisingly, the water is quite warm, especially after a shower - quite contrary to the brrrrrrrrrrr cold water that comes out of the tap (from the overhead tank) after a rain. And that made the bath even more wonderful!

Even as we entered the water, we had these tiny fish come up and nibble at the feet. It took me quite by surprise the first time, and I squealed, wondering if it was some water snake that had decided to have my toes for breakfast. However, they turned out to be tiny fish, and my cousin assured me that it was quite harmless, as long as I had no injuries on my leg. After the initial shock, I sat down on the edge of a rock, and actually gave in to the pleasure of having the feet tickled by these little nibbles. Little did I know that I was experiencing a creme-de-la-creme experience - something that cost a few thousand rupees!!!

I cannot vouch for the hygiene of those fish! And every day there are dozens of people who have a bath in that lake; nature takes care of cleaning the water - fresh rains during the monsoon (which Kerala has plenty of) and I guess given the average life of these small fish, one can be reasonably sure that these creatures are not being overused - at least no cause to have the SPCA come over and complain. The average age of the people in that region seemed to be over sixty...(most youngsters prefer to move to the city...or go overseas to Dubai / Saudi or Kuwait). So, these fish could not possibly be causing serious damage to their feet or health in general.

I guess, there are pluses in being a small-town, nay small-village resident! You don't have to pay through your nose for the height of luxury - a fish pedicure.

The best things in life are indeed free!!!

Achuettan must have been a worried man. Protocol demanded that he too invite Ratanji to God's Own Country, but then, given the track record of industrial and labour relations in the state, he stood a good chance of being rebuffed. "Well, anyway I don't have 1000 acres of contiguous land in any case", he consoled himself. And it was quite unlikely that the opposition would fault him for not having extended the invitation. He went back to tailoring the new "green-kerala" policy.

Given their atheistic (or is it agnostic) leanings, I wonder if the present government is comfortable labeling Kerala as "God's own country". It probably suits their requirements though - to thwart any attempt at industrialization of the state! After all, God gave man only Eden garden...and Kerala, has managed to retain it pretty much that way.

I have no complaints though! As a frequent visitor to "Ente Keralam", I enjoy the verdant landscape and fresh air. Drive 30 km in any direction from a city, and you are likely to find yourself in rustic surroundings. There is beautiful coexistence of ultra-modernism with absolute Spartan austerity even in a small town like Cherpalachery I find electronic items ( a jabra Bluetooth, wireless keyboard and USB mouse)!!! something that I might have to go to a speciality electronics or computer store in Chennai. And then I go back to my grandmother's house (2.5 kilometers from this market), - and this is no easy task mind you I park the car on the "high" way.and then have to climb down a steep (ittlu alley is too weak a word) and slippery path to a field where I then walk in between two rice fields, jump over a gate(kadambaya) to get home!!! No wonder, these guys do so well in athletics!!! to find myself in an entirely different world. The only sign of progress (if I can call it that) is the television that takes the place of honour in the small living room.

This visit was special in that respect. I got to discover, quite serendipitously, a breath-taking route from Coimbatore. Instead of the usual Walayar route, I took the route to Anakatti, and then crossed over the Ghat section into Mannarkadu.and from thereon to Ottapalam and cherpalachery. If you are not in a hurry, this is an absolutely wonderful route to take. You are probably passing quite close to the silent valley forest reserve. Some child must have doodled over his cartographer-dad's road map which is why there are so many twists, turns and hair-pin bends on that road. I stopped several times on the way to admire the scenery.and for once regretted not having carried my camera. The roads are pretty empty, so make sure your car is in good working condition.and you know how to change tyres, in case of a flat!!! I definitely intend going back that way, and probably spend more time in the Ghat section before heading to mannarkadu.

The other highpoint of this visit was a complete cut away from work! With the mobile phone out of range, and no internet access, I remain oblivious of what was happening in the outside world.(yes, I stayed away from the television, and did not use the landline at home either). So, I also managed to remain blissfully unaware that my net worth had eroded by over 50% in those five days! And so did not end up with ulcers watching the sensex take that plunge. Instead, the fresh air, organic food, and obstacle-race-like paths left me rejuvenated and healthier! Well, that should leave me fit enough for manual labour (financial consulting will be a high-risk job for sometime atleast)!!! And then again, maybe I'll go back to my agrarian roots.at least you can be sure of a square meal every day!

Driving in peak-morning traffic in Bangalore is a masochist's delight! And the misery is compounded when you are not familiar with the roads! Miss a turn and you'll find yourself hopelessly lost trying to negotiate your way back to your destination! And so, when my friend offered his car to drive down to Jaya Nagar from the airport, had common sense prevailed I would have turned down the offer!!! Instead, I allowed myself to be convinced to take up the offer.straight road, you can't miss it.you are starting quite early.even if you drive slowly you'll make it with plenty of time to spare.were the arguments put forth. It was very reluctantly that I made this decision! I had one last shot at backing out when I saw the battered old Esteem!!! But then, there are some days when you don't listen to your instincts.and pay the price!!! Vinashakaale vipareethabudhi!!! Little did I know what was in store for me!!!

With great trepidation, I started off, turned into airport road, and was immediately swallowed into the big, long bottleneck that is Bangalore's roads! The deed was done.too late to go turn back now. So, in start-stop-doze-off-wake-up-start-again traffic, I made slow progress until I reached the left to the Koramangala Ring road. The traffic eased a bit and I actually managed to get to third gear before we reached a traffic light. There was a long line of cars ahead of me.and I settled down to some more of the start-stop.routine. The lights turned green.and then it happened! The car suddenly stopped. I switched on the ignition again in hurry; a rasp and sputter that followed were the death spasms of the battery! My car would not start! My worst fears had come true!!!

How often have I honked the ears off a hapless motorist whose vehicle stalled or stopped after the lights had turned green? And today I had my comeuppance!!! I turned on the hazard lights to indicate that I was hopelessly stuck. Fortunately for me, the lights at the signal turned red again. A few cursing drivers slowly maneuvered their vehicles past mine. I tried turning on the ignition a few more times.it was getting stuffy inside. I tried to roll down the window. Power windows.no power.windows don't work!!! I took advantage of the red light to get out and inspect the situation. Looking back at the turn of events, I can quite confidently say that that's the exact moment when my fortunes turned!!! Do they not say that it is darkest before dawn!!! Well, I had just hit touched the nadir - From this point on.anything that could happen could only be construed as good!!! And that included what I wished hard for..that the earth would open up and swallow me quietly!!! I had gotten out of the car, closed the door.and heard the automatic lock go on!!! I had locked myself out of the car in the middle of a busy intersection!!! J A goli in a goli-soda.that's what I might have looked like to a satellite taking a picture of this road at that moment!!!

Quickly surveying the situation, I surmised that the path of least curses lay in giving other drivers advance notice about my car, so that they could negotiate their vehicles around mine!!! I called my friend to let him know of my predicament! He promised to get there in the shortest possible time in about an hour, I estimated two kilometers on the airport road and two more on the ring road!!! Wearing my best plastic smile, I stood behind my car, diverting traffic. I wish I had joined the Road Safety Patrol while at school! Some drivers got too close before they figured out I was not standing there trying to cross the road!!! And a honk and a glare later, they swung their vehicles to the left or to the right, getting dangerously close to some other vehicle! I shudder to think what might would have happened if they had actually collided with another car while negotiating this obstacle!

The phone call from TB turned out to be a blessing in disguise! It gave me an opportunity to look at the funny side of what was happening!!! One interesting observation: In all the time that I stood there (for more than an hour), there was just one good Samaritan who offered to help move the car to a side. He must have thought I must be one weird guy, when I explained to him that it was not possible to move the car, as I had locked myself out!!! For the rest of the road users, this was just another obstacle in their daily ride to office which had to be surmounted.what is one more bottleneck when the entire road itself looks like a long bottleneck!!!

Relief finally was at sight.at a distance, standing at a vantage point (atop the median) I sighted my friend coming on a scooty!!! He parked the vehicle and waded through the traffic holding a duplicate key in hand; we opened the door, released the hand-brake and moved the vehicle to a side! Shortly thereafter, he was followed by the owner of the scooty who arrived in an auto to claim her vehicle!!! I helped push-start the car; happily relieved of my traffic duties, I got into the auto and resumed my journey. a couple of hours late for my appointment!!!

Markatasya sura pana (monkey gets drunk)

madhey vrushchika darshanam (scorpion bites it)

tan madhey preatha sancharam (on top of that, the devil gets him)

yadwa tadwa bhavishythi (what do u think can happen to the poor monkey)

Well, the mallu would have actually been actually asking for his simian ancestors, had he said mongeese! And if he has learnt from the school where MG annan did, then surely he knows that adding an "s" to the end of a word makes it plural. So, if you want to refer to one member of the audience, you would say Audien!!! J I almost fell off the chair laughing!!!

In India, we speak Indglish a language that has as many accents and dialects as there are Indian languages! Like Wardle's search for the Average Briton, we'd probably end up hunting for a needle in a haystack to find a "propah" Indian English accent! Not that there aren't any variations in the way the Brits themselves speak - Boycott being our most famous example!

Audience in its strictest sense should refer to something that is auditory or aural. Like the lovely word which Vani's father used "Shroddha" the sense it affects "Shravan" is there in the word itself. However, as the language gets vulgarized we see instances of people using it to refer to other kinds of gathering of people (e.g. spectators). However, I do not expect The Hindu to debase itself thus not yet! And yet, we had S. Dinakar reporting for the Hindu on the first Test match between India and Pakistan held recently at The Kotla grounds talking about how Tendulkar regaled the audience with his delightful stroke-making! Bathos is the word that comes to mind!

My friend Mohan Ram would perhaps be crying with shame! He recalls with pride an incident that happened in the early 90s when The Hindu had just started their Delhi edition. He was in some small town deep in Uttar Pradesh when he came across an elderly gentleman sitting with a copy of The Hindustan Times and marking out errors both spelling and typos. Mohan went up to him, handed him a complimentary copy of The Hindu and told him "I'll come back tomorrow to collect your subscription I'm confident about the quality of my newspaper". Surely enough, the man was extremely pleased with the content and quality of paper and promptly switched over to The Hindu. I'm not sure if my friend would venture out now to challenge someone thus!

I guess the advances in technology have brought along with it an equal number of problems too! Where people used to pore over text to make sure there are no mistakes, now we just run a spell check. And so while we end up correcting flavour to flavor (to suit the American dictionary), we oversee mistakes like flower for flour!!! Worse still, people blindly accept suggestions from the speller resulting in humorous situations Anoop Shekhar allowed his name to get changed to Snoop Shaker!!!

Well, looking at the bright side of things, it at least gives us reason to laugh.after all, English is a funny language, don't they say!!!

It seems rather strange that one should get to taste traditional North Indian Dhaba cuisine in Mallu land! Yet, there it was! Well, the signboard that said "Authentic Panjabi Vegetarian food" was what caught my interest. I normally associate Punjabi food with Butter chicken and chicken tikka. So, I was quite surprised to find a joint that served only vegetarian food. For those of you who are interested to know the location, this is on NH 47, just past Ginger hotel, before you hit the Kazhakootam junction (when you are travelling up north)! Not a fancy place, it sits on the first floor of a building that is below road-level! The food's passable, the service quite bad unless you are a regular, in which case the waiter materializes in front of you, even before you've taken your seat! I surmise that this place has sprung up, and continues to survive thanks to strong patronage from some North Indian bachelors who have joined various software companies in Technopark. Anyway, their Aloo paratha is good, though they didn't have that pumpkin side-dish!

The trip from Delhi to Pilani used to be a lot of fun! Probably, the only time that that route used to be jam-packed was when semester started or ended. Bus-loads of students used to head for Delhi from where we would take trains to distant places (mostly Andhra and Tamil Nadu)!!! The bus used to stop at Bhiwani or thereabouts for a break! Check in to any Dhaba on the Haryana-Rajasthan route for some really great food! The food is fresh and hot, and the lassi thick and delicious! I wonder if it is still that way I never got around to visiting my alma mater after passing out! L

I guess, it was Chandrasekharan Nair, who got me started on this journey back to college! And a BITSian in Trivandrum is probably just as strange to find as Aaloo paratha!!! And strangely enough, I was meeting him too, after almost twenty years! He had a prosperous look, especially around the waist, and had tried to compensate for that increase in weight by losing an equal amount of hair on his pate! But the non-stop chatter is something that had stood the test of time! His love for talking had found the right vocation as a teacher in Kerala University. And we were joined by yet another alumnus who happened to be in Trivandrum at that time. Together we walked down memory lane, recapturing some of the glorious moments of our student-days.

Sometimes it seems like a lot of fun just to pause for a while.and look back! I found it all the more nostalgic as I prepare for yet another journey to becoming a student again! Lovely coincidence that it had to happen now.but then perhaps that's what synchrodestiny is all about! Perhaps I'll get to write about that some other time!

Still soaked in the warm afterglow of having indulged my eyes on so much greenery, I emerged out of the airport and was glad to be greeted by a driver holding a placard bearing my name! "This must be an absolutely wonderful place to work in" I said to myself, as I got into the waiting car. And lo presto! I was brought down to reality!!! "Tomorrow is a hartal, organized by the BJP" announced the driver! There you go! Imagine Kerala without its red flags, unionism and hartals!!! I wondered if this malaise had spread into the Technopark too! Touted as the largest IT Park in Asia, I was also amazed at the fact that it had been set up amidst so much of greenery. I was soon to find out that they had managed to create all of this without making it look like a scab on this absolutely green landscape!!! Quite an achievement! Anyway, coming back to the hartal, what gave me a perverse sense of satisfaction was that the President was also in town.and hopefully she would also have to live through the ordeal of a hartal! To be fair to the people of this land, the communist credo of equality is practiced religiously.everyone gets a fair dose of the problem.no special favours! And predictably enough, the President and her entourage spent the next day at the Kovalam beach! J

I was in Trivandrum to conduct a two-day workshop on Product Management for a leading software company in the Technopark complex! The Ginger Hotel is just a stone's throw away from the IT Park.and that was a relief! The hartal would not unduly inconvenience me! Worst case, I could still walk it to the office. The workshop (in my opinion) went off very well! The participants were a fantastic bunch of bright and enthusiastic people, quite different from the cynical and laid-back Mallus I had expected to meet. In fact, I was amused to find people walking to work wearing a mundu and shirt the equivalent of the Silicon Valley culture of wearing shorts and Bermudas to work, I guess! More importantly, however, was the revelation that there is a generation of people over here, who think they can actually make a career within the state itself! The IT Park is a beautiful environment to work in the facilities probably equal, if not excel, what you find in the other metros in the country. And the bonus, of course, is what you will never find in the other metros so much greenery, beaches, and hills.an abundance of natural beauty (in more than one form)!!! J

With such a literate (and intelligent) population, this should not really have come as a surprise! I am glad that there are few entrepreneurs who are willing to risk it all, and set up shop over here! And I wish that they succeed. With a natural ability to work smart, this should ideally be a place, where one can expect to see the highest productivity and return on investment. And IT seems like a very appropriate industry to flourish over here! This will not pollute the environment and therefore can coexist harmoniously with Tourism, which is probably emerging as the staple source of revenue! And creation of huge campuses where people can live very close to their workplace will also eliminate the need to travel long distances, and its consequent deleterious effect on traffic management, transportation, fuel consumption (and increased cost of living). And with a huge literate population, service-oriented industries should be able to flourish, since it will allow more and more people to be employed.

The IT Park, in spite of its size and facilities, appears to me as highly under-rated. Hyderabad and Gurgaon, with probably lesser facilities than this place have been gaining a lot more prominence as potential destinations for IT companies. Whether this low-profile marketing is by choice, I do not know. With the Smart city coming up in Kochi, one hopes that Kerala will in due course of time, earn its rightful place in the Corporate map of India.

Thus wrote Christopher Marlowe many many years ago, describing Helen of Troy, which launched the Trojan wars in ancient Greece.

This blog seems to be starting like one of S Ve Shekhar's plays "Kaattile mazhe". In the middle of the play, the protagonist says "Kaattile mazhe", his friend asks why...he says, that's the title of this play...and I had to say it somewhere!!!

I really don't know why I started off this way...perhaps I'll find out along the way!

Today's been a day of memories...walking down memory lane! Again, this is quite inexplicable...quite an ordinary day, like any other. And yet, I kept getting dragged to the past - in more ways than one! Perhaps the fact that I chose to write this blog is one...some very pleasant memories from the past.

The thought process itself started off on a rather macabre note! A friend from BITS Pilani passed away recently - he had just turned forty!!! I'd been to his house to offer my condolences, and in such gloomy circumstances, got to meet a lot of friends from BITS days - people I had not met in the last 20 odd years! Of course, we were glad to be meeting again, though sorrowful that it had to happen in such a setting. I was also glad that a number of people told me I hadn't changed much in these twenty years, for which I must thank L'Oreal!!! :-) Well, of course, I still looked quite fit and trim - almost like how I did when I used to play football for college; incidentally, that's how most people in BITS know me - more for my extra curricular activities on the games field, than for my academic prowess. Off course, I've learnt to wear clothes that show me in good light too...one that does not expose my slight paunch or non-muscular arms!

I used to be extremely fit and very athletic, lost the athletic part when I injured my knee, but continued to remain physically agile and fit, until I went to Dubai! Was it because I lost the inspiration to be fit?!!! I wonder! It took me a good fifteen years and a shocking medical report that showed me as suffering from diabesity, that knocked me back in action. I went on a crash diet, resumed my physical fitness regimen (long walks in the morning, some swimming now and then) to regain some level of fitness and lose 10 kilos in the process. But somewhere along the way, I had become "soft"!!! No more the well-toned muscles of an athlete! I never liked the idea of going to a gym; it was too static an activity for someone who has been an outdoor sportsperson all his life.

Perhaps, the meeting of old friends will be motivation to tone those muscles once again! After all, I'm going into student-mode again...might as well act like one again!!!

Now, was that the reason for the nostalgia?!!! Keep guessing!