Family reunion!

It’s been a while since the last blog entry – in fact not a single one in 2013. Thought it would be apt to restart my blogging journey with a reflection on the year gone by (2013) and a small travelogue on a recent (extended) family trip.

For me, 2013 whizzed past like a speeding train. At work, there was a change in the line of work whilst on the personal front with two growing kids at home, there never was ‘enough’ time.  I don’t expect 2014 to be any different either. On a sad note, 2013 also saw the passing away of quite a few loved ones – five close relatives of mine lost their final battle.

The last two weeks of December however were very different.  Got a chance to take some time off work and spend time with the immediate family. And then towards Christmas time, there was this trip to Nilambur along with my extended family from my great grandmother’s side.

Enroute we visited a couple of temples that are associated with the family. The first stop was  Kottuvatu. We visited my ancestral temple (Kuladevatha) for the first time in my life. Till a month back I did not even know that this place existed and believed my ancestral temple to be a different one. The story goes that the Kozhikode Samudiri (King) gave land in the Malapuram area to a family for upkeep of Kottuvatu temple and asked them to move there. Subsequently one of the daughters settled down in Kandugapuram (near Angadipuram) that lady happened to be my maternal great grandmother.

Kottuvatu is a quaint little village in Malapuram, district. Visiting it felt like being transported back thirty years in time. The pictures speak for themselves. Surrounded by greenery, nestled in between two hillocks, Kottuvatu is hidden away from civilization. 

 Kottuvatu temple

 The 'kodimaram'

Original 'tharavadu' or what is left of it

Our bus load of city bred folks were surprised to encounter the hospitality of our thrice removed cousins who showed typical Malabar style hospitality. They had arranged for special puja and payasam in anticipation of our visit.

Visit over, we proceeded to Angadipuram to visit the famous Thirumandamkunnu temple.  Enroute we had an interesting mythology lesson from my uncle. The gist is in this wiki link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tirumanthamkunnu_Temple) but my uncle’s re-telling of the story was special.

Once we reached Nilambur we did the usual touristy stuff – visited the waterfalls at Aadyampara, the teak forest at Connolly plot and the teak museum. 

 View of the Karimpuzha river

 Aadyampara

 Connolly's plot

 No caption needed !

Garden adjacent to the Teak museum

But the highlight of Nilambur for me was the visit to Nilambur Kovilakam and the Vettakarumakan temple.

Through an acquaintance, my uncle had managed to get through to the present resident of the Kovilakam –the present ‘thampuran’ so to speak. Once our antecedents were checked, we were invited inside and the thampuran himself gave us a conducted tour of the kovilakam and its history.  I will recount a couple of interesting tit-bits here.

The first one is about how the Kovilakam itself came into being. In the early 1700s , fearing Hyder Ali would invade his kingdom through the Nilambur forests, the then Samudiri of Kozhikode, asked a member of the royal family to settle down in Nilambur and hold ground with an army. Neither Hyder Ali nor his son Tipu eventually invaded Kozhikode through the Nilambur route but Nilambur Kovilakam, a vassal of Kozhikode was formed.

Even more interesting was the story about the famous Guruvayur elephant – Guruvayur Kesavan. It is common knowledge that this famous elephant was an offering from Nilambur Kovilakam. But what is not so common is the background to this event. Around the time of the Mapilla revolution, the senior most lady of the Kovilakam was in the Vettakorumakan temple adjacent to the Kovilakam when the whole area was attacked. Though the doors of the temple were immediately closed, it was not expected to keep out the attackers. The lady prayed to Vettakorumakan that if the temple doors kept the attackers away, she would arrange for a baby elephant to be gifted to Guruvayur. The temple doors did not give way and a relieved royal family later gifted a baby elephant named ‘Everest’ to Guruvayur. This elephant was rechristened as Kesavan and the rest of the story is well known to all of us! The present Thampuran regaled us with a few more stories from the past.

 Vettakorumakan temple @ Nilambur

The oldest building in the Kovilakam complex (225 years old)

The best part of the overall trip was not the ‘sights and the sounds’ we encountered but the fact we could spend quality time with ‘long lost cousins’. It was even more heartening to see how well the younger crowd (many of whom were meeting each other for the first time in their lives) jelled with the rest of the group and had a good time.

All in all, the trip was short but sweet. At the end of three days, when we were parting ways to go back to our respective lives, there was an empty feeling in our hearts. That in a way augurs well for the family as it means that there will definitely be a re-run of the get together next year! And if that happens, rest assured that I will blog about it!

'TRAIN'ing

Earlier this week I had to make a short trip by train. While the onward journey was uneventful, the return journey was not so. I boarded a long distance train that was in its last leg. The compartment was packed. Among my co-passengers was one particularly vocal chap who was yakking from the time he boarded the train. 

A few minutes into the journey I spied a well fed spider hurrying across from one side of the coach to the other. Fifteen minutes later a couple of cockroaches peeped out from behind the berth - as though they were ticketless travellers looking out for the ticket collector !!

And it felt like I was in the zoo when I spied a small rat rush past between bags and across the coach. I pointed out the new comer to the co-passengers. That was the trigger for our vocal friend to start. He obviously started with the topic of cleanliness in railway coaches, moved on to how they were fleecing passengers. 

Most of us were in agreement with the points he started with but he did not seem to be in any mood to stop. The middle aged man who had woken up from his slumber went back to sleep - or at least pretended to. The pretty girl with the glasses hid behind a girly magazine.  The rest of us stopped making eye contact with the hero and started fiddling with our mobile phones /looking at the scenery whiz past us. 

Ending with a scathing comment of Mamta Banerjee - who incidentally has no ministers in the cabinet now, he promptly proceeded to eat a banana and throw the peel on the floor of the compartment !

Well so much for all the cleanliness talk. If this is the way we behave in a public space and have no civic sense, we do not deserve any better than the company of harried spiders, shy cockroaches and nervous rats on our train journeys - what do you say ?

Ulta Pulta World

I have always had a soft spot for laughs. My favorite movies/ TV shows have always been comedies.  Even now on weekend evenings, my elder daughter and I cuddle up on the sofa when a particular Malayalam comedy show starts on the telly. Whatever be the quality of the comedy dished out, we switch on the telly every week – without fail.

Early this morning news trickled in that last night Jaspal Bhatti passed away tragically in a car accident.  Bhatti has been my favorite Hindi comedian.  On the sole TV channel we had in the late eighties, we would yearn to watch the ‘Flop Show’ and ‘Ulta Pulta’.  Bhatti’s humor was self depreciating and he would deliver his lines with a straight face.  He chose topics of social interest and his skits/shows made you laugh, yes but also made you think.  There have been many satire shows since but the king of satire will always be Bhatti.

Even after the satellite channel explosion in the nineties, Bhatti kept at it, sometimes popping up at the street corner with a play, sometimes in a short film, sometimes on the telly – but always with a social message delivered with a jab of humor!

A few years back he addressed a press conference and announced the formation of a mock political party. The promises in the manifesto were hilarious. I was taken back in time to my college days when in the final year, a few friends include myself got together and formed a mock group to ‘contest’ the college elections!

Bhatti Saab – thank you for all the laughs and for the messages.  I am sure you will start performing the ‘Flop Show’ in heaven for the denizens there having a go at the powers that be there. But you leave us mortals in an ‘Ulta Pulta’ world. 

Moved

Finally after 4 years of waiting (and a lot push and pull with the builder), we formally moved to our new (old ?) apartment earlier today. Feels a bit awkward to be in Trivandrum and yet not to be spending the night at 'Aiswarya'. Since 1987 (the year the house was built) whenever I have been in Trivandrum (either studying /visiting parents on vacation / staying with wife and kids since 2006), home meant 'Aiswarya'. After the furniture was loaded on to the truck and transported to new place, I had to go back 'home' to take care of a few things. It was awkward walking into a near empty home.


Thankfully it is only a temporary phase. Parents are planning to be partially based in Tvm. Which means I will get to see more of them as well as 'home' sweet home....

As for the new place, the kids seem to love it. They have already made some friends - as has the wife. They all seem excited at the prospect of staying here. That's a good thing - as of now it is our 'apartment' ...it is up to us to make it our 'home' ... as we did with Aiswarya. We are looking forward to it.

Covey

Stephen R Covey - the famous self help guru passed away on July 16th. Best known for his immensely popular book - The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Covey built on the success of his book founding the Franklin Covey institute and extending his business to motivational speaking and co-authoring several other books.

Through his books and seminars Covey touched the lives of millions of people. Like most others, my first encounter with Covey was through his most popular book. The messages were simple and straight forward, the ideas detailed in the book were peppered with real life examples from Covey's life and from what he had observed. Probably that's why the book was such a big hit.

A few years later, I came across one of Covey's videos on the internet. If Covey sounded great on paper, the audio-visual seminar was even more impressive.

Though Covey is no more, he made a lasting contribution to humanity and his ideas will live on.

Stephen R Covey, Rest in peace.

PS - If you are too busy to read the 7 Habits book, follow this link to get a short synopsis - 

http://www.quickmba.com/mgmt/7hab/

Wife vs Girlfriend !

My elder daughter Nandu left for her grandma’s place the day her school closed for summer. The past two months, she has been having a grand time in Aluva with other kids of her age.

While I missed her, during this time, I have got to spend more time to spend with Niya, my second born – especially during weekends like this one. Earlier when Nandu was around, weekends meant Nandu and I would be together for most of the time – be it going out to get groceries / going to the park / playing games at home / even just lounging around watching TV.

Now that Nandu’s return is just a week away, I am wondering how to balance things once she is back. In a way my situation is like that of the chap whose wife is returning from vacation while he had a gala time with his girlfriend!

IPL Ads

That India is a cricket crazy nation is stating the obvious. Major cricketing events like the World Cup attract record Television audiences. These events are like an advertiser’s dream. You may have noticed that the major brands plan their big bang advertising campaigns around such events.
 If events like World Cup or a bilateral one day series are an advertiser’s dream, IPL would be paradise for them. One, the events spans over almost two months. Two, no risk of India getting knocked out and viewers losing interest! Three, the slam dunk colourful format ensures plenty of leeway for plugging your brands (strategic time outs, DLF maximums, Citi moments and Karbon Kamaal catches, Vodafone star …)

Besides being a cricket fan, I am an old student of marketing. I have during the past IPL seasons looked forward to viewing the latest advertising campaigns.

One of the brands that never lets us down has been Vodafone (the advertisements my friend, I am not talking about the actual product). You might remember Cheeka the pug during Vodafone’s previous avatar as Hutch. During IPL 2 they came out with the ZooZoo ads which were a big hit. They innovated each year thereafter (with and without the ZooZoo concept) managing to wow the audience and at the same time ensuring brand recall.

This season however Vodafone seem to have a hit a low. The first time I watched the ‘tele match’ style ad which on purpose has been voiced over by Javed Jaffrey-ish voice, I was partially interested. Now after watching it like almost after every over, it’s irritating to say the least! At least that’s how I felt.

Idea in the past has been another brand full of ‘ideas’. The ‘What an Idea Sirji’ campaign with a major star (Abhisekh Bachan) has always been intelligent and interesting. However this year, the addition of the ‘after life’ angle and the somewhat stale jokes/puns has not gone down too well with me. At least the Idea ads are not as obnoxious as the Vodafone ones.

The saving grace has been the simple (dancing girl) bijli ko bachaao ad from Havell’s. Don’t know what’s special about it – a simple setting and an even simpler line - yet it never fails to bring a smile each time it is played out.

When I watch the Vodafone ads I am tempted to shout out ‘Viewer, viewer – viewer ko bachaao’!