Fabulous Mahabs

Inspite of living so close to Mammalapuram, where the 7th century Pallava kingdom flourished, I have never found time to visit the place. So on the Saturday after Independence Day (these days it is safer to be at home on such important days because of threats of bomb blasts), we took the ECR route to Mahabalipuram.

The stone temple close to the seashore was first on my agenda. It was smaller than I anticipated and people swarmed like bees to it. One thing that irritated me and my hubby were two North Indian ladies having their meals near the sanctum sanctorum. By the time we reported to a guard outside (in my broken Hindi; looks like there are a lot of inter-state postings in the ASI) the ladies had finished their lunch. It upset me that I didnt have the courage to shoo them away from defiling that precious relic of Indian art.

That is not a pensive mood, just looking down to protect my eyes from the glare of the midday sun.

There are lions sculpted in stone all around the temple, some cemented to the base but most of them just balancing beautifully. There is a park around the temple now, which probably explains the rush.

We also visited the Five Rathas, Krishna's butter ball (a huge boulder balancing on a rocky surface; it has been there for centuries together) and Thirumurthi cave (in picture) close by. There are more historical sites but one needs more than a day and more energy to view them at leisure.

Congrats, friends

A special post for the bloganniversary....
In the past few years, I've been in touch with friends or heard from them. Was thinking of everyone whom we come to know and how some are still in our thoughts and stay in touch with you.
How many friends are trustworthy was brought to my attention.. when an auntie visited and told us about few deaths in her circle of friends and family - who were killed by their friends due to jealousy! Sad. While some of us would like the best for them and feel proud of them, some get hurt.
I am proud of all my friends and they are all achievers in their own ways.
After a long time chatted with Rajeev. it was nice to talk to him. He used to be one of first ones to chat for long to us. It's great he is married and has a small child now to take care of. Got a PhD .(First in our batch, right?). Now we look forward to his poems, photos and blogging.
Life becomes hectic after marriage.
As Rajeev said, many of us are abroad. who thought we would go out of India?
Maha after marriage came to Canada, did her library course, is doing great in her field with a child and hubby, blogging, and still tries to keep in touch.
Suni, also has a career which seems to get her on the jet to see other places. a hubby and a son to take care of. Nokia (right?) . watch out for our budding friend.
Miller, Griz has been in touch most of the time with us from when we were in college. Its great to see Miller abroad and trying to help his family back home too and 2 kids who they both try to keep entertained without boring them.. always seem to be going out when i catch them on chat..
Rosh, upcoming in her Frontline work, got my.. 3 or is it 4 blogs, 2 kids , hubby, maid problems to deal with.. then editing all my typos (thanks to her i can leave it and am 100% sure she will put it in readable style!)
Of course, we are the only active ones on this blog. There are our other guests like the Hardy boys who make us more proud . as being Lawyers.. each with a wife and 2 kids . (i can hear murder in their voices for writing like this, if they get us alone, watch out for their teasing.. and rosh does not edit- i am in trouble). who when time permits tries to catch with the rest of us at lunch/dinner. globetrotting gypsy!
Annie , we hear from mostly Griz and every time i am in mds have caught up with her.. she is teaching in college and has a daughter, stays with her parents and travels weekends. and her hands full too. She said Venky,prem seem to be in touch with her too.
Usha Nair came , seem to have met Annie ; she is teaching abroad and has a family to take care too. Usha wrote once, then no news!
Murali was in touch with everyone, then he seems to have become silent. Rosh , go get him to comment , they r in the same building at work, don't bump into each other much. He seems to be going up in his career, seems to have travelled abroad for study/work/training?
Reba came and then no news from her.
Glady was busy shifting when we last caught up, hope he is settled in now, to catch up with the rest of us.
Shankar has blog which now i find he is not blogging on... any news of others?
congrats to our friends
Great, keep it up. God bless.

Our summer trip to a nearby lake

There is a huge lake north of our city called Waskasieu. It is our province's best kept secret. THe little boy in green shirt also celebrated his 3rd birthday there. After lunch, a walk through the woods, a birthday celebration, boat ride on the lake we played volleyball on the beach. We got home at 1.30 am the next morning as the ride is about two and a half hours away from where we live.

The new me

It is early morning, so my face is a bit puffy...

Rajeevnath says:

(In a chat with Usha)
Chitra & kid are fine. Hope ur kids are fine too. Am in touch thru the blog. Of course a silent reader.
You know, I visit the site regularly to catch up with all the news. Feels good to read all the posts, see us with family & kids in various countries. Great, eh! N'er thought all this will happen when we were in college. ha ha...
I can write all that's bothering me (in the blog) ... ha ha... it'll be a gripesnipe then. I think i shouldn't wait for the inspiring moment... will post even my poems (poetic jottings) if possible.
yup yup.... they (poems, photos) come soon. Give time till sun/mon for a post.
Olympics opening ceremony... watching it?
it was a hectic week.. had a cultural studies conference in our dept. Next week shd be ok (for a post).
yup couldn't spend time at home with the lil one.
will take a look (at the blog) on the weekend.
bye 4 now. nice chatting with u.

p.s. HEY! Rajeev is reading. Hoping that all of us can get him to join in.
It's almost a yr of our blogging. Are we celebrating? Good luck to all of you. Continue to blog, chat, comment. God bless.

Things that happen here

A man strangulates his wife and 4 children in Palakkad, Kerala in the hope of marrying his paramour. The oldest child, who is only 12, was sexually abused by him several times before her death. He has been caught and is behind bars. An incident that has greatly pained me in recent times.
A couple in Mumbai approaches the court for permission to abort their 5-month-old foetus because it could have heart problems when born. Their appeal is rejected but they get offers of medical help (such as a pacemaker every 5 yrs for the baby) or even adoption (from the Catholic church which is against abortion).
Two of a gang, beleived to be behind the Vadapalani serial murders, have been held. It brings an end to speculations that the killings were executed by a psychopath.

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Gujju delights

For tasty Gujarati food, visit the Gujarathi mandal in Broadway that has vegetarian thalis for Rs. 45. Like we did yesterday, when a colleague gave us a party there. For a Westerner like her, it was a thrilling experience - these little joints that offer wholesome food at down-to-earth prices.

The restaurant has been there for ages. It is on a road opposite to the High Court and Law College.

But the area is quite seedy and may not be relished by the faint-hearted. The pavements are in a pitiable condition thanks to the slums and rikshaw-dwellers in the vicinity. Once upon a time, this must have been the city's best locales. No wonder the British called it Esplanade (since it led to the Marina Beach) and the Broadway. But the locality badly needs to be decongested (the shifting of the inter-state bus terminus to Koyambedu has helped to some extent) and replanned.

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