Vacation Kerala

View from outside

A bigger house to accommodate a bigger family.

A Kerala wedding in the US

We went to a wedding on Saturday at St. Thomas the Apostle church in Ann Arbour.
The church was built in 1835 or so. With stones outside, beautiful high ceilings, and pipe organs. Reminded me of the churches we see in Kodai/Ooty. They had a singer who did a wonderful job. Our full attendance at the reception.

There stands the bride and the groom. The bride sports the mantrakodi, the sari that comes as a gift from the groom. The mantrakodi apart from the thali forms the essence of the Christian marriage ceremony of Kerala.

Altar, the wedding register etc getting ready.

Here comes the bride.

Bridegroom and his best men arrive for the ceremony.

The part which is still is in our minds was when one of the best men fell flat. The noise is still echoing in our heads. We all thought he had a heart attack. Poor man, recovered enough to stand but he was swaying, so we called 911.

We happened to be in the front rows. So hubby helped. We had water, so gave it to him. None of us saw it happen, we just heard the noise.

It was a hot day and a long one at that! I suppose no one warned the poor man how long Indian weddings can be. Or how long the best men/bridesmaids get to stand!

I'm back!

Did I tell you all that I got back to Chennai and the Internet after along break in Kerala?
p.s. And as fat as this person...

Animals we've enjoyed visiting

The deadly Piranhas. But dont they look so harmless and paavam here?

White shark.

Dont miss the two leopards sleeping under the tree.

Our ancestor.

Ostrich. Hippo getting a sun tan.

Penguins.

Baby elephant enjoying a bath given by the trainer. They lifted their foot for washing.

A day's trip to the zoo

Some pictures of the animals in Toledo zoo. Our second trip to the place. It's a one-hour drive from our place.

This time we had a few friends joining us. It was cool when we started out. Later it became warm. There was lots of comments like: you going to visit our friends; say Hi; why go there? just visit our home, u can see everything. Another wise crack was that you visit this home, that home, that home and go back and say u saw the zoo!
After all this we reached the zoo, walked a bit, saw a demo of training seals.
The polar bears were showing off which was amusing - running and diving into water, really playful. Sloth bear was near the glass.

Tigers all came out to show off.

Oh! Peacock did its beautiful dance.

Saw some ducklings, some duck/swan eggs. all diff shapes, sizes. Of course, we can't forget the huge birds of prey, cute colorful ones, ostrich...
While one person imagined having roast duck egg and duck curry, another dreamt of fish fry, curry.

The white lions atleast was close by to look at. The leopards were lazing but did see them this time.

The reptiles did not see me. But the boys loved it!

We did not cover half the stuff we did last time. But this time we did the train ride; last time we did the boat ride.

Spent time eating of course with trying to hold on to our plates/food ..which thanks to the great wind was all over the place. We had to finally weigh down our plates with heavy stuff..

As usual the camera had its hitches. This time it was memory full! Another person's battery down. How the cameras know us!

Hope kids can enjoy these photos. You must have seen quite a few in your growing years!
The trip reminded us how old/unhealthy we were. Could not walk a few steps before sitting and relaxing. Ofccourse I had to top that list!

River walk

Nature and a warm spring morning around us.

The Canadian geese flew before we could get the camera... common..

p.s. waky, all of u, before Rosh comes. there should be lot of post for her to catch up on!

Wedding Anniversaries

Miller& Griz - sorry, (belated) wedding anniversary greetings. wishing u both the best.
Also to Annie and Sajan, Rosh and Vinod, Maha and Arul Sir...
May heaven's choicest blessings be with each and everyone of you ...
WISHING YOU ALL PEACE AND GOOD HEALTH..
And Miller's birthday. Next month also some birthdays - Annie, Venki . Wishing u all early happy birthday.
Birthday boys and girls ... May God bless you all too with the best in Health, Happiness. Good luck with everything.
HOPE YOU ALL HAVE EXCELLENT DAYS AND WONDERFUL YEAR AHEAD.

Chennai shots

Swans at a hotel on the East Coast Road. A drive down the ECR is not to be missed - there is the sea on one side and rural landscape on the other. Next time you NRIs come down take a trip to Pondy.

Summer is here. The temperatures have been in the 39 to 41 degree Celsius so far. It is expected to peak to 46 deg C soon. Sugar cane juice and tender coconut water are ways to cool your system. Here is a nice stall in Anna Nagar Shanti Colony.

Me having a "quick meal" of sambar rice, curd rice, keera rice, chapati-kuruma and kheer. The variety in the Tamil Nadu cuisine amazes me. Topped it with a watermelon juice without sugar :0

NEW LIFE? NEW WIFE?

Who is that?
aaahhhhhhhhhh.... open mouthed are you? don't worry, many did that to me already.

Upset- got that from hubby. He was first not too happy, but now he is enjoying all the reactions. heeeeee

hey mum u look like me. Noel just smiled.

Oldest was upset she was not there to tell them how to do the latest style and coloring.

Other comments:

"Hey that poor uncle is 80, don't let people fall flat and spoil his party."

"Who is Thomas's new hot date who looks like Sharon's sister?"

"she looks chic, nice, cute."

"hey , i knew u got a new home. did not know u got new wife or would get one."

"hey why did u not do it then before the house warming?"

"give me that hair. or don't throw that hair, u can use for dance."

Life is short. We need to help others, also enjoy ourself. This was reminded to me with a knock. so trying to make others to do a Aaaaaaah.

Let's keep the blog running. Hey contributors, come on. Help wake the rest of us with a post.