Gopika the bride

With Malayalam Superstar Mammooty...

With actress Kavya Madhavan, her peer.

With actor-couple Dileep and Manju Warrier.

Usha forwarded this to me... Maybe some of you have seen Gopika in Tamil films or at least heard about her. She first shot into the limelight with the movie "For the People" which has the song Lajjavathiye which was a runaway hit in Malayalam. I think the movie was remade/dubbed into Tamil...
She is a Catholic girl from Trichur whose real name is Girlie (just as Nayantara's name is Diana Kurian)! She is now headed to Ireland as she her groom is a doctor there. That is the routine for most actresses, especially in Mollywood. They are at the peak of their careers when they decide to get married; in fact the film world is a shortcut to land a good groom, preferably an NRI one. Take the case of Madhuri Dixit, Divya Unni, Ambika...

The world's most expensive saree.....

Chennai Silks a textile unit has come up with one of its kind and it is seeking an unmistakable entry into the Guinness Book of World Records for being the most unique and expensive saree.

The exceptionally stunning saree is meticulously woven with 12 precious stones and metals to depict 11 of Raja Ravi Verma's popular paintings. Explicitly projected is
'Lady Musicians' one of the painter's very famous works that displays women belonging to diverse cultural backgrounds.

Besides, the border of the saree pictures 10 other paintings of the artist that pays tribute to 20th century artist.
The best part of the saree being that the women in the paintings are intricately hand-woven and beautified with jewels of gold, diamond, platinum, silver, ruby, emerald, yellow sapphire, sapphire, cat's eye, topaz, pearl and corals.

Already in the Limca Book of Records, this 40 lakh saree will be the first silk saree that required the use of 7,440 jacquard hooks and 66,794 cards during the weaving process. Moreover, a group of consummate workers took nearly 4,680 hours

Palace of the Old Era

Visited the Padmanabhapuram Palace on our Trip to Nagercoil and you can have a tour of the place by seeing the photos. The place is really great and well maintained by the Kerala Government (although it is within Tamil Nadu). The whole place is made of Teak Wood thanks to the Kerala Architecture and special mention should go to the way the floors are made so shiny and beats our present day marble finish and a bed that is made of stone to give a pleasant sleep during the hotter days. Enjoy..........AM

Laurel & Hardy

Prem, having a king's meal, at Hotel Ashoka near Pantheon Road (where Fountain Plaza is). He was here on business for a day and was to catch the evening train. The three of us caught up for lunch, well past lunch time.

Venky and me had already had our lunch, so we settled for sambar vada and filter coffee. Venky is quite like his old college self and takes care not to put on weight. So in the end, Prem's lunch dessert of a vanilla ice cream remained untouched. We are all on various forms of diet restrictions - old-age ailments that now land in middle age.

I almost mistook Venky for a local political dada when I saw him in his white Scorpio. He is doing a PhD in Law from SRM university, for which he is legal adviser. His topic is "The evolution of the English language in legal judgments".

In contrast, Prem says he is only a small-time lawyer, not flashy and successful as Venky is.

p.s. They look more like two Hardys now, since Prem has put on weight.

Palmleaf paintings

from Orissa...

Radha and Krishna, the eternal lovebirds from India.

I have a fascination for elephants and processions involving elephants :)

This looks like a tribal village.

Wedding in Canada

This wedding happened in May. With their parents blessing them from India, dear friends of ours got married. I was a bridesmaid and Arul was the MC. It was all fun!

Northie splendour

A reception of a Jain wedding at Hotel Accord Metropolitan.
I feasted (apart from the vegetarian food) my eyes on the very
colourful and splendid designer saris that the women wear. In
comparison, my modest designer sari looked like the stuff N. Indian
women wore at home (that comment came from hubby dear).
In all, it was like watching a Hindi movie.

Update from San Diego

Hi Guys,

Its been a long time since I have blogged, sorry I will try to do more when I can. This year has been very eventful for me with lot of travelling. I got the opportunity to go to Helsinki & Espoo, Finland, and visit our Nokia head quarters. I went ot Finland in April but it was still cold. Got to tour Helsinki and get to know a little about its history. Got to see our headquarters in Espoo a little away from Helsinki on a lake made of all glass. Then in May I went to Costa Rica for a small vacation and I was surprised to see few similarities with Kerala, but I had a very wonderful experience. I got to see Arenal Valcano in action. A sight I will never forget in my life and also the opportunity to see rain forrest. I will be traveling to Dallas, Texas next month, to our American Head Quarters, I am not so fond of Texas though :( Its nice to see updates from Roshan and Usha. Congratulation Usha on your new house and new look. The house looks very cute and so do you :) Its was also nice to see Roshan's pictures on Kerala and Chennai. It is a nice way for us out side India to keep in touch with home.

Mount Road naps

The heart of the city gets to breathe and nap when the red lights are on at traffic junctions.
Remember our occasional trips from Tambaram to Mount Road? It was like going to another country - the long ride, Landmark, Best Wishes, BC and USIS libraries.
:)

And a bus stop near LIC building.

Christian dancers

This is margam kali, the traditional dance of Kerala's Syrian Christian women in a their very traditional attire of chatta (v-necked long blouse) and mundu (with a fancy fan-shaped tail at the back) and neriyathu (daavani in tamil parlance). Dont miss the kunukku on the ears and the golusu on the ankles.

But these are young performers, not grown-up women, the kind who did the dance in olden days. Youngsters brought from Bangalore for a huge fee for two performances. Sponsored by a friend of ours.

This was at our church on Saturday last, when the church held a perunnal and convention. I missed it since I was working late that evening, while V went with his father. The rain spoiled the last half, especially a splendid Kerala feast at the end for all who attended.

But on Sunday, we all took part in the closing ceremony when we had a procession round the church with muttukuda (ornamental umbrellas you might have seen at Kerala festivals), chendamelam (drums) and breakfast of appam and chicken curry courtesy the church. My son got a tiny umbrella to hold - many people hold the umbrellas as a votive (nercha).

Unfortunately I dont have pics of the latter - one forgets to carry the camera on crucial occasions (like today when my daughter started her new school at WCC).

p.s. I will think of uploading a video of the dance IF I find time at home.