കാടോർമ്മകൾ - എ.ഒ. സണ്ണി

"ഇന്നാ പിടിച്ചോ.." ലൈബ്രറിയുടെ  ടെക്നിക്കൽ സെക്ഷനിൽ വെറുതെ എല്ലാവരേയും ഒന്ന് കാണാൻ ചെന്നതാ - ജിഷ അതാ എനിക്കു നേരെ ഒരു പുസ്തകവും നീട്ടി ഇരിക്കുന്നു. "ഇതെന്താ?" - ഞാൻ ചോദിച്ചു. "ചെന്നിരുന്ന് വായിക്ക്!" - മറുപടി വന്നു.

കടും നിറമുള്ള പുറഞ്ചട്ടയിൽ ശീർഷകം - "കാടോർമ്മകൾ  - എ.ഒ. സണ്ണി" - വെള്ള നിറത്തിൽ എഴുതിയിരിക്കുന്നു. "നീ വായിച്ചോ?", ഞാൻ ചോദിച്ചു. "ഇല്ല, കാൾ നമ്പർ ഇട്ടിട്ടേയുള്ളു. പ്രോസസ്സിങ്ങിൽ ആണ്, ന്യൂ അറൈവൽസ് ആവാൻ താമസമുണ്ട്". കൊച്ചു പുസ്തകം. കാടാണല്ലോ വിഷയം. ആദ്യ വായനയും! എന്തായാലും, ഉച്ചയ്ക്ക് വായിക്കാം.

ഉച്ചയൂണ് നേരത്തേ കഴിഞ്ഞു, പുറത്തു മഴക്കാറ് തളംകെട്ടിനിൽക്കുന്നു . സെക്ഷനിലാണെങ്കിൽ ആരുമില്ല. പുസ്തകം നോക്കാൻ ഇത്തിരി നേരമുണ്ട്. ഞാൻ വായിക്കാനിരുന്നു. കുറച്ചു കഴിഞ്ഞു കാണും. ഏടുകൾ മറിയുന്നത് ഞാൻ അറിയുന്നുണ്ട്. പക്ഷെ സ്ഥലകാലബോധം നഷ്ടപ്പെട്ട അവസ്ഥ. ഓഫീസിലെ കസേരയിൽ നിന്ന് നേരെ കൊടുങ്കാടിനുള്ളിൽ "ട്രാൻസ്ഫർ " ചെയ്ത പ്രതീതി. എനിക്ക് ചുറ്റും കാടിൻറെ കടും ചായങ്ങളുടെ വാങ്മയചിത്രങ്ങൾ - നട്ടപാതിരാവിലെ നിബിഡവനവും, കാടിനുള്ളിലെ പെരുമഴയും,  ആനയും, ആനച്ചൂരും, കടുവയും, മലയണ്ണാനും, മലമുഴക്കിയും, അട്ട കടിയും, വിശപ്പും, ദാഹവും, ഭയവും, സുഗന്ധവും, ദുർഗന്ധവും, കാട്ടുതീയും, തെളിനീരും, അരുവിയും, പുഴയും, നായാട്ടും, മരംമുറിയും, രാജവെമ്പാലയും, കാട്ടുമൂപ്പനും, മാക്കാച്ചിക്കാടയും, മലദൈവങ്ങളും - എല്ലാമെല്ലാമായി കാട് അതാ പല പല നിറങ്ങളിൽ, പല പല ഭാവങ്ങളിൽ എനിക്ക് മുന്നിൽ നൃത്തമാടുന്നു!

ആരോ സെക്ഷനിൽ വന്നു വിളിച്ചപ്പോഴാണ് എനിക്ക് സ്വബോധം തിരിച്ചു കിട്ടിയത്! എന്നിട്ടും, കാടിറങ്ങി വരാൻ മനസ്സ് കൂട്ടാക്കിയില്ല! ആ ഒരാഴ്ച "കാടോർമ്മകളു"മായി ഞാൻ പല തവണ കാട് കയറി! എപ്പോഴെങ്കിലുമൊരിക്കൽ അനുഭവിച്ചറിയാനായ് മനസ്സിൽ കോറി വെച്ച കിനാവിലെ കാട്ടിൽ ഞാൻ തനിയെ അലഞ്ഞു തിരിഞ്ഞു, അലിഞ്ഞിലാതായി!

ചില പുസ്‌തകങ്ങൾ അങ്ങനെയാ, അവർക്കായി കാത്തിരിക്കുന്ന കൈകളിലേക്ക് അവർ സ്വയമേ വന്നു ചേരും! എന്നിട്ട് കൈപിടിച്ചു കൂട്ടി കൊണ്ട് പോകും, അവരുടെ ആ ലോകത്തേക്ക് - കിനാവിലലിഞ്ഞില്ലാതാവാൻ!

നന്ദി ശ്രീ. എ.ഒ. സണ്ണി സർ.

(ഗ്രീൻ ബുക്ക്സ് - പേജുകൾ - 215, വില - 310 രൂപ )

Throwback Movies - Gol Maal (1979), Language : Hindi, Genre: Comedy

Though I returned to "Gol Maal", which is as old as me, to laugh over the weekend, this time the movie made me wonder than actually laugh. Watching it more closely, I was awestruck at the measured, balanced and subtle performances of Amol Palekar, who is trained in fine arts then with a career in Theatre and Utpal Dutt, yet another towering figure from Bengali Theatre whose leftist revolutionary dramas ran packed shows in 1960s. Both, under the direction of Hrishikesh Mukherjee, considered as one of the greatest in Indian cinema, raised this simple movie to its deserved classic comedy status!

While the characters of Ramprasad Dashrathprasad Sharma and Bhavani Shankar, played by Amol Palekar and Utpal Dutt respectively, are class apart as the ones' who drive the story, every other role are also notably etched with pin-point precision – may it be Ratna as Ramprasad’s sister, Kedar Mama, Deven Verma, Kamala or Buaji. The guest appearances of Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha and many others along with the way how "story within story" theme was brought in, made this otherwise simple script more interesting and unique. Lyrics of Gulzar gave us the “Gol Maal Hai Bhai Sab Gol Maal Hai” adage and the equally philosophical “Aane Wala Pal Jaane Waala Hai”, which got blessings of R.D Burman and when they finally reached us through Kishore Kumar they naturally turned into classics! 

A feel-light, feel-good, feel-happy, feel-joyful, live-in-the-moment movie for a weekend!

Thrissur Pooram - 2024 - Fireworks Night

Thrissur Pooram - 2024 - After wandering for the entire day and evening immersed in Pooram vibes, it’s in the middle of the night Brijesh bro took us (myself and his other friends) to one of the best place in Thrissur town to watch the Pooram fireworks. It was on the terrace of a nine-floor building.

After walking through narrow roads and by-lanes, we reached the base of the building. Being a private property we had to clear the security pass and by the time we reached the top it was well past mid-night. As we entered the terrace, I was stunned to see a village of people -  old, young, children and women - all waiting eagerly there for the fireworks to happen later in the night!

The Wait!

Even in that night, the summer heat of April was tough on us, but the beautiful sky and the gentle breeze, along with the breathtaking view of Thrissur town greeted us with a lot of relief. Below, the endless crowd were seen flowing through the streets like lava from a live volcano! It is 1 am of the night and there in the open we stretched ourselves along with many hundreds, all eagerly anticipating for the fire-magic to appear in the sky at 4 am.

But shortly in a while, a news started to spread that there were some disputes happening down and fireworks will be delayed and may even get cancelled. Several woke up from sleep, many looked worried and uncomfortable but none of them left their position and all felt determined to continue the wait. I sat there wondering how intense is this passion which probably could be seen only among this fiercely festive passionate Thrissur crowd!

The Long Wait!

In a while I slipped into tired sleep, and when I opened my eyes it was 6 am, with the open sky greeting me with beautiful morning hues and morning breeze. But there are no fireworks yet, neither any magic has happened other than the beautiful sunrise!

Brijesh and his friends, had not slept a bit, and I saw them strolling on the terrace, going through news updates, talking to people, looking tense and worried! Would the fireworks happen?

The Unending wait testing the patience of all!

Finally, there came the update that the fireworks would start at 6:30 am. The wait continued, but even after 6:45 am, nothing started. Another update came, stating it would start at 7 am. The wait became longer, the sun starting to heat up our tired bodies. Even after 7 am, nothing moved other than a gentle breeze.

It was when the frustration reached its peak, by around 7:10 am, the first burst of fireworks shook us! The entire crowd woke up, all rising on their toes, their face gleaming in joy, their eyes staring towards the bright sky!

For the next fifteen minutes, we were all taken to a magical world of light and sound — though the sun swallowed the colors, the magic of resonating rumble and lustrous fire was enough to make the crowd go crazy and finally, at its peak, I saw all of those around me screaming in heavenly joy, bringing their year-long wait to an end, making every moment of their sleepless night worth it!

For me, the intensity of all that hot and humid that I went through the day and night filled up yet another page of extraordinary experiences of life, closing it on a colour-ful and fire-ful note!

Clouds disappearing into sky after fireworks!

A Lesson from a Bamboo Piece!

April-2024 - As we were returning from the Kodungallur temple compound after the Bharani festival yesterday, he suddenly found something, then bent down and picked up a small bamboo piece lying in the dust filled festive ground. I was about to stop and ask him to throw it away, but after a moment of thought felt to ignore - 

“Yes, no doubt it’s not advisable, but let me not stop and control each and everything they do, let them be themselves...and learn something on their own...” 

After I dropped him at his home and was about to leave after a tea, he came up with it again to me with something on it ! He had washed and cleaned it and then has wrote the event and date - "Ha, what a simple, beautiful memento it turned out to be!"

Had I stopped him from picking it from the dust, I might have curbed his thoughts, identity and the creativity! Luckily I didn't!

"Let’s nurture the freedom of expression, creativity and individuality (with a speck of caution) of the children even though it may be a little different from our expectations and our imaginations. Who knows they might surprise us with what they have inherent within them!”

Nochur!

Nochur Bhagavathy procession to the Theru

19/Jan/24: As we turn onto a sub-road at Kuzhalmannam on the speeding NH544 from Thrissur to Palakkad, the surroundings suddenly seem to settle down, relax and breathe easy. After another 10 km drive, covering the modest village of Koduvayur and its angady, a narrow road takes us to the humble surroundings of Nochur, which houses a relatively small agraharam of the Tamil Brahmin community who had migrated to Kerala centuries ago.

We, as an ad hoc plan, are here for the annual chariot festival (Ratholsavam/Theru) at Nochur Bhagavathy (Shanthi Durga Parameswari) temple, which falls on the first Friday of the Tamil Thai month (Jan/Feb). It is along this Bhagavathy temple and an adjacent Krishna temple that the Nochur agraharam is lined up.

It is only on these festive days that this otherwise silent gramam springs up with its effervescent energy. Being present on this auspicious day attending the rituals followed by the annadanam, which serves the divine payasam (commonly known as chathu-shatham), turned into a blissful experience for all of us. 

However, it would have been incomplete without a walk through the agraharam. That wish of ours also got fulfilled by visiting the ancestral agraharam home of our friend Sobha. A walk around the house which has rooms older than two centuries, an old kitchen which once served the entire gramam, the thick wooden doors with unique locks all took us back to a completely different world which thrived once upon a time! 

Of all, the short time we got listening to the anecdotes from Sobha’s in-laws turned out to be precious. 

“Nochur had more than 75 traditional agraharam homes a few decades back which has now depleted to around 30, and even among them, a very few families stay here. The rest come down only during the festive season.” 

We noticed this at Sobha’s home. Relatives who came from Palakkad, Mumbai, and even the US, just for this festival, all taking their festive nap in various rooms!

As we stepped out and walked around the Nochur gramam, we saw the scars of pain this once-pristine village is facing in the form of crumbled structures and deserted homes. A heritage tag like that of Kalpathy would have probably saved some of these, but now this agraharam needs more hands (than brain or money) to pull it up and preserve its identity.

A 'Rope' of Hope!

“Nochur, with the divine blessings of Vedanta Sampradaya Acharya Pujya Sri Ramanacharana Tirtha Swamiji, has got its spirituality tag. And then there is the divine ‘rope’ of hope always there, ready to be picked up. We wish the Nochur diaspora, who always keep their agraharam and its culture close to their hearts, realise it and come back again to pick and pull it ahead. That is the way, in fact, that is the only way this authentic culture and traditions of Nochur could be preserved for posterity!”

Stories in Black & White – Kollengode!

“Let us go to Kollengode!” – this is what is trending in social media nowadays and this is what got triggered, out-of-blue, among the friends as we were attending a marriage function near Palakkad. “It is just a 30 min drive, let us go!” and we all are set. Social media is bustling with Kollengode reels since it got listed in the best 10 villages of India! Now trippers, vloggers and many obsessed with social media are crowding to this tiny hamlet to make their own reels or in their attempt to go back in time and live their nostalgia.

Soon after our presence was recorded at the function which was followed by a heavy lunch, we started to Kollengode. Through the reels and vlogs most of us were already familiar with this place even without visiting it once. Our first destination was definitely to have a good solid tea to refresh and awaken our nerves. Before 2 pm, we were at the tea shop of Chellan Chettan, familiar now to all who follow Kollengode vlogs and reels! We did not expect to get tea at that time. But not only did we have very good tea, we also had freshly fried snacks as well. The road splits into two from there one taking to Chinganchira Nature Temple and another taking us to Paddy Storage Room. We visited both the places and on our return visited Seetharkund waterfalls as well. All pleasant, green rich locations. But do the vlogs and reels really convey the reality? This is a very deliberate question which we all should ask in black and white to ourselves before blindly going after social media.

 

Let us start with Kollengode listed among the 10 most beautiful villages in India. Did we ask who selected it? Did we ask on what criteria it got selected? The answer is most of us do not know. We just heard it in the media or in the vlogs and we simply got convinced it is one of the most beautiful. It is surprising how easily the people of this educated state can also be deluded into believing what the vloggers, reelers or the media wants them to believe! The fact is this list of beautiful villages is neither from any authorized agency nor from any govt. department. It is just from a twitter handle (Colours of Bharat) who suggested it, probably from their explorations or their study and we readily took it to another level.

 

So does it mean Kollengode is not that great a place to visit? This is a subjective question. It depends on various factors – your expectation, your locality, the season, the day you visit etc. For eg. If you are 1-2 hour drive from Kollengode it is worth visiting it on a pleasant day (with light rains) and preferably on a weekday. It is a good place to visit in case you are travelling to any nearby place there, such as to Thrissur or Palakkad and you have some catch up idle time. Now, if you have to drive four or more hours just to be at this place and that too on a weekend or holiday it is a big No! Even on summer days probably this place may not be the way you expect it to be. And it is again a No to all who already have high expectations about this simple village watching all those beautified reels.  

 

Why is it so subjective?  It is after all a beautiful village nevertheless. Isn’t it? Okay – here it is – Kollengode has paddy fields which you can see in several other places in Kerala and you may easily choose one such place which is close to you. Yes, Kollengode has a beautiful backdrop of mountains and a waterfall nearby, making it subjective. But decide it objectively. Then there are many who are coming here to have tea from a nostalgic gracefully underdeveloped hut – hmm, I would like to say, you are sliced by social media – come out of it and reinvent yourself. All these hang-outs here are nowadays crowded by those who are sucked in by social media. Their commutes have already spoiled this beautiful village, the empty bottles, the plastic wastes, their SUV grinded roads – may it be Nature Temple or Seetharkund waterfall all are amply polluted already. Even the outer space is now filled with thrash sent by man, then how can we expect this earth to be clean! Human beings are the most hygienic polluters of this Universe!

 

But isn’t it at least helping the villagers to get some extra bucks? Ha, the most destructive question. Kollengode is already turning into a classic example of how the mindset of an uncomplicated, innocent simple village gets destroyed by the lure for money. If you observe the villagers now, they are already competing among themselves for those extra bucks thrown to them by these commuters. There are new tea stalls sprouting around, there are competing parking areas, there are new constructions in progress and definitely there will be more hangouts, more resorts and more concrete structures around ending up in destroying whatever was expected out of this humble village.

 

So what is in a nutshell to summarize? In simple one line - Let us not contribute to anything that leads to the destruction of the original definition and intention of this village. If that means traveling responsibly, so it be or if that means not even visiting it, so it be too! 

Preserving this pristine village and its unpolluted souls is much more important than these insatiable cravings emerging from the over polluted, superficial, fabricated and cosmeticized social media! 

Kerala Monsoon of 2023!

Yet another Malayalam new year has unfolded with Chingam day today. But unfortunately what Kerala goes through now is not its pleasant traditional aura of the season. Instead of the rain chilled days, the pleasing mornings and cool nights, Keralites are nowadays waking up to temperatures hovering around 30 degrees with humidity hitting 80%, somewhat like an early summer. Call it El Nino or greenhouse gas emissions, it is a fact that Kerala is at the receiving end of the global climate crisis. Earlier this year scientists had given their “final warning” on the climate crisis which is at the brink of becoming irrevocable. Humans, however, in their frantic pursuit of their insatiable gratifications, are yet to realize that they are accelerating their own impending destruction.

If we observe the past decade, the climatic change in Kerala is swinging like a free pendulum hitting the dreaded bells at both extremes. In 2016 Kerala experienced its worst drought of the last century and within two years, in 2018, it hit the other extreme of the worst flood of nearly a century. In 2016, when Kerala was declared drought-hit by the Centre, as per the IMD, Kerala faced 34% deficit during Southwest Monsoon (Jun-Sep) and 62% deficit during Northeast Monsoon (Oct-Dec). In fact, it was the worst drought hit in the past 115 years.

Now coming to mid-Aug of 2023, Kerala is already facing a deficit of 44% in the ongoing Southwest Monsoon with just one more month to go – 10% worse than the worst drought Kerala faced! Just to show how serious it is, from 1-Aug to 15-Aug Kerala received just 25mm rain while the average expected is 254mm! This is not just alarm ringing; it is the ambulance siren blowing at its full throttle for Kerala. Few reports say it is ‘break of monsoon’, if it is true and if monsoon revives soon all Keralites can feel like each of them have won an Onam bumper! If not, the wait will be for the dicey Northeast Monsoon - the final chance to survive beyond which it will turn catastrophic.

Kerala in its history never had to really face any situation of a prolonged drought. Even the 2016 drought got neutralized with 2017 rains. And for centuries, the twin monsoons have always blessed it showering the pure grace from heaven in abundance making it God’s own country. However, the past decade teaches us it may not always be so. Everything has its tolerance limit and there is no doubt we have already transgressed its breaking point.  

PS: To those who wonder what we should choose given an option between drought and flood, researchers are of the opinion that while both are disasters, drought is more devastating than the flood. Drought has a lasting impact on flora, fauna, groundwater, water availability and several human civilizations were dusted because of long lasting droughts.

പഞ്ഞ കർക്കടകത്തെ പഞ്ഞിക്കിട്ടേ !

ഇടവം പണ്ടേ ഇടഞ്ഞു തന്നെ. മിഥുനം ഒന്ന് പരുങ്ങി നിന്നു, എത്തി നോക്കി, പേടിച്ചോടികളഞ്ഞു. ഇപ്പൊ ദാ, കരിമ്പോത്തിനെ പോലും കിടുകിടാ വിറപ്പിക്കുന്ന കർർർ...ക്കടകവും, മലയാളിയുടെ മുന്നിൽ മുട്ടുകുത്തിയിരിക്കുന്നു. 

മകരമാസത്തിൽ മഴപെയ്താൽ മലയാളം മുടിയും എന്നൊരു ചൊല്ലുണ്ട്. പക്ഷെ കർക്കടകത്തിൽ മഴ പെയ്തില്ലെങ്കിലോ? ആ, അങ്ങനെ ഒരു സംഗതി പഴമക്കാർ പോലും സങ്കല്പിച്ചിട്ടില്ല! ഈ പഞ്ഞ മാസം മലയാളിയെ വിട്ടൊരിക്കലും പോവില്ലെന്നാവും അവരും കരുതിയത്. എന്നാൽ, ഉൽകൃഷ്ടരായ ഈ നാട്ടിലെ ഉത്തമന്മാരുടെ ആ ഊക്കും, ആ ഉത്സാഹവും, ആ ഉശിരുമൊക്കെ കണ്ടിട്ടാണെന്നു തോന്നുന്നു കർക്കിടകവും ആവിയായി പോയിരിക്കുന്നു! ഹ ഹ ഹാ! 

കുറേയായി ഈ പഞ്ഞ കർക്കടകം ഞങ്ങളെ കൊണ്ട് പാരായണം ചെയ്യിക്കുന്നു, കഞ്ഞി കുടിപ്പിക്കുന്നു, ഈറനുടിപ്പിക്കുന്നു! ഇനി ഞങ്ങളിവിടെ കർക്കടക ചൂടിൽ കൊപ്ര ഉണക്കും, കർക്കടകകിഴിവിൽ കിട്ടിയ അമേരിക്കൻ ബെർമുഡയിട്ട് നട്ടുച്ചയ്ക്ക് പോപ്പി കുടയും ചൂടി കറങ്ങി നടക്കും, തമിഴ്നാട്ടിൽ നിന്നും ഇറക്കിയ കരിക്കും, മിൽമയുടെ (നന്ദിനി നഹി നഹി) സംഭാരവും, ആസാമിയുടെ നീമ്പു പാനിയും കുടകുടേ കുടിക്കും, ഗുജ്ജുവിന്റെ അമുൽ ഐസ്ക്രീം നുണയും, പോഷകത്തിന്ന് വേണ്ടി മാത്രം ഇത്തിരി പ്യുവർ കള്ളു (നമ്മുടെ സ്വന്തം) പാനം ചെയ്യും.  രാഷ്ട്രത്തോട് കൂറുള്ള ഞങ്ങൾ ഉറങ്ങുന്നതിനു മുന്നേ ഒരു മഗ്ഗ് (അല്ലേൽ വേണ്ട, ഒരു പെഗ്ഗ്) 'ജവാൻ' പച്ച വെള്ളം തൊടീക്കാതെ (കുടിവെള്ളത്തിന് അന്യായ കരമാ ഹേ!) മോന്തും - (അത് ഞങ്ങളുടെ ജന്മാവകാശമാണേ!) 

അങ്ങനെ ഇവിടെയൊരു നവയുഗമുണരും മക്കളെ ! ചോർച്ചയോ, നനവോ, ഈർപ്പമോ ഇല്ലാത്ത ഊഷ്മളമായ നവയുഗമുണരും, ചൂടാറാത്ത നവയുഗം!

Vande Bharat!

It was on 15^th Feb 2019, India’s very own Vande Bharat Express, initially nick-name Train-18, manufactured entirely in India, was inaugurated for its maiden journey from our capital city of Delhi to our oldest pilgrimage city of Varanasi. With decades of customary red tapism and rampant corruption, I doubt anyone in India believed we could manufacture even a toy train, forget a real rail train! But agree it or not, we are asked to wipe and open our eyes and mind again and look at our transforming India! In 2015 when Indian Railways issued bid to manufacture high-speed trains no one met the necessary criteria. Rather than crapping or corrupting the bid, decision was taken to manufacture them on our own! And look at what we have achieved – within 4 years we have our first semi-high-speed passenger train with aero-dynamic design, world-class features and with a potential speed of 180 km/hour rolling on our rails! What an achievement ! The first heavyweight, perceptible and striking success of “Make In India” ! Another interesting anecdote read is while the wheels of Vande Bharat were initially ordered from foreign countries, India started to manufacture that too in own factories since 2022! In fact the vision has gone so far that there is already planning in progress for fourth generation (Vande Bharat 4.0 – VB4) trains which can hit a speed of 200 km/hour!

Within no time, Vande Bharat has become every traveler’s dream and with 99% average occupancy our states started to queue up to get one for them! In Kerala, we also wished to have one. But how can our small state in the southern corner can dream so big! But then, we are asked again - wipe your eyes and look – India is transforming fast! And here on this 25th day of April 2023, we witnessed the unimaginable - Hurray ! Vande Bharat Express is rolling on in our state too - from Thriuvananthapuram to Kasargod ! This entire day, each and every Kerala news channels were sprinting to cover the live visuals of Vande Bharat. Kerala witnessed an unprecedented, sensational, majestic welcome one can imagine for a passenger train in its entire history – while media rolled in and out of VB, politicians competed to show off, eminent personalities, selected school children queued up for the maiden journey and become the part of history. I have never seen our state with so much of euphoria and elation in any recent times!

 

Several asked me – why didn’t you attempt for a travel in Vande Bharat or at least go and see its maiden journey? In fact I wished to and even tried too. But the maiden ride tickets are for special and selected ones’ and we are neither of these! But for those who asked me, I had a little nice experience to share and here it is -

 

It was Saturday evening of 12th Nov 2022. We (family members of 7) were on our way back to home after a pilgrimage to Tirupathi. Our return journey was from Chennai Central. We reached the station by evening though our train is set to depart only by 9 in the night. Having enough time to relax we found a nice clean place on the floor to keep our luggage and stretch ourselves. While relaxing in sleep mode, suddenly one of Nandus noticed something unusual in the arrival/departure display on the screen. In the arrivals it just displayed an uncommon train name – we waited for it to appear again and then read it loud – “Wow ! It is Vande Bharat ! Vande Bharat is set to arrive around 7:30”. However the platform number was not displayed. Someone in between googled and gave us more information – “ Hey, this is the first commercial run of the Chennai Central – Mysuru Vande Bharat Express, the first one of South India, built in Chennai itself, and it is on its way back to Chennai, it should arrive by 7:30. Let us try to find out the platform where it will arrive!” Keeping the seniors as luggage guards, we with Nandus went in search of the Vande Bharat platform. Being Chennai Central, the end point station, it was easy to move through the platforms. After wandering through all, we found the one line which is empty and confirmed our Vande Bharat is set to come through this line on Platform No.1. Then started our wait staring at the dead end of the rails. After a brief wait, we found the beaming white light of Vande Bharath piercing through the darkness. Aha! It is cruising in slowly through the light little drizzle at Chennai Central - Several people meanwhile gathered around to watch this moment. And in a short while, we saw the elegant white skin of Vande Bharat closing in to us, the rain drops sparkling in its beam light and sprinkling on it as wishes from heaven – what a glorious historic moment we happened to witness ! We relished it to its completeness – talking to the travelers, loco-pilots, peeking into the drivers cabin, taking selfie-snaps and then finally getting in to feel the ambience of its interior too! A proud, once-in-a-lifetime and historic “Mera Bharath Mahaan” moment! 

The Moments :) 

The Vande Crowd!

First Time In VB

Vande Mataram

Republic Day Run - 2023

26.Jan.2023 – Republic Day Run @ Puttumanoor, Puthencruz : It was my first half-marathon of 2023, fifth overall, and first time participation at Puttumanoor RDR. Though I had regular short runs over the past few weeks it was not a prep for this event. Still I felt reasonably confident to complete it well (and push for sub-6?).

But as soon as the run started, it became evident that it is going to be a kind of hill run which only those strong marathon runners can negotiate with ease. My first 5 km went well as per my wish and the 10 km target I pushed to make it at sub-6. But then it started to become difficult and from 15 km onwards it became really tough for me. It was like half-marathon with complimentary “hill repeats”. By the time I lapped into the final kilometers my legs had almost turned into walking-mode with overworked calf muscles giving up in exhaustion  – if the legs had hands it would have slapped me  Anyways I finished happily strolling into my PB at the finish  Then came the realization - for next two days I walked like a robo with stiff legs  – teaching me the importance of proper practice, preparation and hill-repeats!

A Beautiful Night for the Beautiful Game!

18.Dec.2022, Sunday : When we scrambled for our 40 km drive late evening on 18th Dec 22 to watch the FIFA World Cup Final live at the Palace Grounds Screen at Thrissur, hardly did we think our return is going to be such a roller-coaster ride.  And what an emotional blockbuster it was! We reached the stadium ground in the heart of Thrissur city right on time and by then the entire place was jam packed with fans of all kinds! Those close to the screen were seated on the floor, behind them were those seated on chairs and on the flanks and back there were plenty standing. There were several seated in the gallery too. We found our spot somewhere in the middle from where we got a good view of the screen and the crowd. Stage is set for the giant final. Almost all in the crowd including we two were praying for that one humble, gentle man we admire the most in football – Magical Mystical Lionel Messi! – can we see him smile as the night fades? 

FIFA World Cup Football Final - 2022 - Live Screening @ Thrissur Palace Ground

National anthem of the teams is played, and then came the kick-off whistle to roll the ball for the final time! It was greeted with waves of roars! From then, the next 70 minutes of the match was simply breathtaking with relentless attacks and counter-attacks which made us glued to the gigantic screen. Those two moments, which shaped the Argentina goals were celebrated with explosive cries of joy and crackers in the background – Messi taking the penalty to score the first goal and then the swift, under-ten seconds attack, with one-pass moves for the fabulous finish of Angel Di Maria! – we all seemed to be in heaven with mesmerizing dramatic scenes around!

But then, the unbelievable happened. Out-of-the-blue came the two return goals, equalizing the situation, that too when Argentina were just ten minutes away from what they dreamt for the past 36 years! There was sullen silence among the Argentinian fans while the opposing fans started their celebrations around. What was heaven till then turned upside down into a hell! It was a situation too heavy to handle off the ground, then imagine how it will be on the ground! The Argentinian team found themselves slipping from energetic charm to complete chaos. Are we witnessing that one last dream of Messi for that coveted trophy slipping away?!

How can the Universe be so unjust ?! How can the prayers of millions go unheard ?! How can the powers of this cosmos make this mistake ?! - make the disaster of denying the truly eligible human - one with elegance, skill, perseverance and a beautiful soul - playing this beautiful game what he really deserves?! How can he again miss this moment of his life?! How, even being so complete, he be written as incomplete in history?! – This is impossible to be true!

Thoughts of the unbelievable were rushing in from everywhere, overheating our nerves to the brim of snapping it. The full-time of 90 minutes with both teams at a stand-still of two goals each is what we could manage in that tense and startled ground. Every moment there felt like infinity and we decided to move out of that energy sapping black hole. We took our scooter and started our ride back to “escape” the possibility of a potential disaster. 

However all along the way, we could feel that uneasy air, the uncomfortable and tense darkness of the night creeping into us. The blurred commentary of the live match was floating in the atmosphere all along the way and in several places we could see the miserable, nervous spectators restlessly staring at the roadside live screens! 

We were about half-an-hour on the drive back when we heard a scream from a distance. We stopped by the next live screen restaurant to know what happened. Aha! Argentina has scored, Messi has scored, it is 3-2 ! They are a few minutes away from the dream title. We took our seat and decided to watch the giant moment! But alas, our trauma was not over! Yet again, there came the brutal penalty - another equalizer making it 3-3 and ending the extra-time too. It is going to the penalties!

FIFA World Cup Football Final 2022 is to be decided on penalties! The last moments of Messi, our hero! Will he survive?! It has become too difficult again, too anxious to watch live! We decided to resume what we did. Yes, ride on. Starting the scooter again, beaming the headlight, we sped into the darkness, into anonymity! Our hearts were beating high and heavy, the midnight darkness and the ride of emotions made the surroundings look blurred! Our mind and ears were trying to capture from the surroundings every hint of what was happening live at the Lusail Stadium, 3000 km away!

We stopped for a moment at Hanuman temple for a short prayer, and that is when we heard the first cracker at a distance, few more followed here and there. But what is the result?! Who is celebrating?! We were still not sure! As we moved further on the road and reached the next junction, we saw at a distance under the street lights the white and blue stripes emerging out waving high, fluttering amongst the cracker-fumes – It is Argentina!! The trauma is finally over! Argentina has won the World Cup Football Final of 2022! And from there onwards, we could see everything crystal clear. Our dark thoughts evaporated into the thin air and joyful and dreamy ones reemerged from Lusail! All along the way at every junction, we saw the crazy fans of Messi and Argentina celebrating, screaming, dancing and bursting crackers – an out-of-world feeling!

The sigh of relief I experienced in that moment when we saw the Argentinian flag emerging out of those fumes is something I will never forget in my entire life! Universe has not failed us and the prayers of millions were truly heard. For that one man - Lionel Andrés Messi, the football legend of our times – fate and destiny decided to shake hands! Messi has grabbed with both his hands the “now-or-never” moment of his life (and our lives too) and made it his own (and ours too)! The trust on the goodness in this Universe (in spite of all the sufferings), the virtue of hard work, the power of prayers all got catapulted to new heights in that very moment! And Messi, this magical man, has just made this beautiful game more beautiful and raised himself to the realms of legends, the place which he truly belongs to!

We reached back home from the euphoria on the streets to watch the live presentation ceremony with Lionel Messi receiving the golden trophy! The moment we all have been waiting for eternity has finally arrived. And in that moment that once-in-a-generation soccer career became complete!

 

(Personally, this beautiful night winds-up my unbridled passion for soccer too just like it did for cricket after the God-of-cricket won his world cup in 2011. It is curtains down but with a complete gratification of being blessed to be alive in this era and enjoy the best of two legends – Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar and Lionel Andrés Messi!)

Exactly a decade back (2011) Sachin had his D-Day!

 

***

Vrischikolsavam-2022

Har Ghar Thiranga !

It is after decades, since the long lost school days, I felt that spirit to hoist our national flag again at home on this Independence Day – Thanks to the “Har Ghar Thiranga” celebrating 75 years of India’s Independence. After roaming multiple times around the town we finally managed to find our tri color from Khadi Bhavan - never have we seen such a demand for our flag before. Returning back as we were making the arrangements,  our neighbor Sandakka noticed us and enquired – 

“What is going on?”

“We are planning to hoist the National Flag this time to celebrate 75 years of Independence! – Are you not planning Sandakka?” – Thrupthi asked back.

“During the days of my father we used to hoist the flag on top of this house. Now who is there to get one” – Sandakka replied

“We will try to get Sandakka” - We decided this Independence Day, we should have the national flag for Sandakka as well.

 

Sandakka is in her 80’s and stays alone in a simple traditional home (told to be built for Rs.6000 around 80 years ago!) since the time we know her. Occasionally she will be visited by sisters and brothers. This time she has her sister with her who is 4 years elder. After our talks, we draped the tri-colour at our home and got busy with other activities and it was only the next morning we realized – “Today is Independence Day and we had promised Sandakka to get the flag! But we have totally forgotten!” – “This is not good..” I said. “…and we are not going to get one today, all shops will be closed and even if anyone open, it will be too late!” We both thought of how to get one, and even planned to take our flag for Sandakka, when suddenly Thrupthi remembered – “I think my father has got an extra flag at home..let us check”. We immediately got on our scooter and went to Thrupthi’s home. We are lucky and blessed ! There is one extra flag at her home which is kept neatly folded in the bag. We borrowed it and sped back to Sandakka’s house.

 

“Sandakka, Happy Independence Day! Here is our flag!” - We dangled the tri-color at her home in a simple way and spend time talking with Sandakka -

 “Do you remember how those days were when we celebrated Independence?” – we asked

 “Yes, I am born in 1940 and sister is 4 years elder, so in 1936. I was probably in 4th or 5th standard and I remember there was so much elation all around! Though it was difficult to know the news like how we get now, we had a rally in Kodungallur to celebrate India’s Independence. My father and sister had gone for the rally. He had friends from all the parties, but his favorite leader was always Nehruji. Since then during Independence Day, he would arrange a person to hoist the flag on our rooftop. Those were special days” – Sandakka said

 

“For us, today is very special Sandakka. We are lucky to celebrate this 75^th year of Indian Independence with both of you. You were there when India got her Independence. And you are here with us to share those moments and those feelings to us! We will remember this day forever  – Happy Independence Day !”

Sandakka

Celebrating 75th Independence Day with elder sister 

With Thrupthi & Lalitha