When life gives you lemons

Too hot for a cup of milk tea, not in the mood for something very cold either? 

Nothing seems like an alluring option for a hot summer drink?

Try this!

Light brown in color, a dash of lemon and mint with occasional seedy interruptions from the lemon. Brewed neither too strong, nor too light either. Not too tangy, not too sugary, lemony enough though – tea is at one of its best forms when savored in this fashion.

The thumb rule though lies in the serving instruction - strictly in a glass, those see-through types that let you watch the chemistry of tea and lemon, as the mint leaves begin sulking and settling down right at the bottom or somewhere in the middle. Be sure to bite the mint leaves as you are busy sipping the bliss from the glass.

A certain thirst quencher, a go to option at any given time in the day, lemon tea is more than just tea. It hits the soul right up and provides you a yogic, gratifying experience.

SARVAM THAALA MAYAM

Hey look behind, what can you hear, he asks. I can see a man chopping carrot, she replies. And he is quick to respond – but I can listen to the Adi Thalam. Every bit of the chopping, sounds like thalam to me. The whole world is beating to a certain rhythm and it feels like I am in search of that rhythm. The girl adds on that everything you see and hear is Thalam – the pitter patter of the raindrops, the movement of leaves in breeze, and so on. This one statement is all encompassing. Reason enough to name the movie Sarvam Thala Mayam, by all means, a meaningful reentry of filmmaker Rajiv Menon, after a 19 year hiatus.

Just the right mix of Malayalam, Tamil and Carnatic music – this movie is an exotic blend, just like a strong cup of coffee, first thing in the morning in an empty stomach. This movie serves Carnatic music on a platter through Peter. Carnatic fusion bands like Agam do their bit in reaching out to the masses through their fusion mixes. Yet, it’s still like acquired taste, not many have an ear for music. There is so much hesitation, and I am not even sure how many are even aware of the music season. It’s deemed as a different realm, appearing as an unexplored island by the common man.

Our man Peter in Sarvam Thala Mayam is shown as a Thalapathy Vijay fanatic which is so relatable. In fact, that’s the vessel carrying the essence of the movie for what it’s meant to do to a layman viewing a pure Carnatic classical movie. Stark references of the plight of the current reality show stricken TV channels, that too portrayed by the very face we see on TV daily – Divya Darshini is just spot on nailing! Packaging plays a pivotal role, and in that sense STM wraps up the gift of Carnatic music really well. To me, as a person who is an avid listener of Carnatic music, the movie felt nothing less than walking out of a kutcheri. Maakelara vicharamu by Bombay Jayashri with Peter playing the mridangam to her tune is a gratifying conclusion.

 ‘Varalama un arugil’ prior to watching the movie, made me think that the song is to woo the girl. Turned out that it was actually to get the blessing of Peter’s guru and begin learning the mridangam. Such a fascinating number brimming with meaning! The sub layer of caste still dominating the music form is portrayed strongly without hurting the sentiments. The fact that prominent singers like Sikkil Gurucharan, Unnikrishnan, Karthik and Sreenivas are cast in the movie itself, came as a surprising shocker. Reality of the present day Carnatic scene was blatantly exposed on the screen with the help of these characters. Nedumudi Venu stood rock solid and with Vineeth doing just the right thing of the bad guy, the movie spoke volumes of the sad state of affairs. Special mention to the NRI guy requesting for Skype classes, looking for quick fame. Rajiv Menon’s star cast was indeed well researched, job well done.

Sara, Peter’s love interest – the Malayali girl’s nuances were captured just right. Everything from the broken Tamil, typical nursing profession, banana chips that her friend brings back home from Kerala, to the Vanitha magazine that she holds in her hand in the Maya Maya song. This attention to detail was so spot on! Nothing more and nothing less was shown about their romance. The primary message wasn’t about love – it was love of a different kind – for the music.

The theme song is a beautiful composition by AR Rahman, timed just right in the movie, when Peter takes off on a musical journey to different parts of India. The 'chenda' piece in the end is a thumping finish to this song. It shows a musical confluence of all instrumental art forms. In that sense, the theme song does total justice and serves as an anthem for music. STM is a thorough musical in every sense, touching even the behind scenes – that of the making of the mridangam and the lives of people who put in their life into this instrument for it to render music to the upper strata. From a low to a high – quite like the Arahonam and the Avarohanam in a ragam – beginning and the ending.

We’ve probably had one like this before – the movie Sindhubhairavi, which makes an attempt to reach out to the common man through the protagonist who transforms from singing Carnatic songs to singing Barathiyar songs in the latter half of the movie. However, Sarvam Thala Mayam is definitely served as an appealing cup of cappuccino to the millennial generation. A big thanks to ARR’s music and Rajiv Menon’s film making.

Mylapore

Strictly for #Madraslovers, #loveformadras #straighouttamadras #madaboutmadras

It’s never enough writing about Madras and its heritage. This post is one of the firsts in my blog to actually talk about a particular destination, where you end up being a tourist in your own city.

The heady smell of jasmine, the invigorating smell of coffee, the woody smell of rudrakshas coupled with the metal and bronze, the divine fragrance of incense sticks, the fresh smell of roots and vegetables — all rolled into one at North Mada Street, Mylapore. The street’s entrance on the Kapaleeshwar Temple tank’s end from the main road welcomes you with hawkers selling trinkets and flowers. As you walk down, you are spoilt for choice for a variety of different things. Mylapore is one of the locations in Chennai which still unapologetically wears the Old Madras look, thereby rendering richness to the city’s heritage.

North Mada Street is one place which never tires. It’s ever ready to seamlessly adapt to the festivity of the hour. The entire street of people gear up for the occasions without whining. During Navarathri, every inch of the street is filled with dolls for golu. As the season changes and progresses into Margazhi, the street lays out a thorough treat to the senses – both visual and olfactory. There’s the Kolam Festival where the whole stretch turns into a canvas – both residents and tourists begin drawing intricate Rangoli designs. And then there are these hawkers selling Manga Ingi (Ginger Mango), Mahani (Sarasparilla root), beads of stinging green pepper and gooseberry; all well arranged in a single hawker’s vehicle. The mixed fragrances of all the roots and spices put together makes you feel the taste of pickle in your tongue already.

Amidst all the din, the Kapaleeshwar Temple stands tall in the center, with all its grandeur – Siva Siva glowing bright and noticeable from all angles. An unintentional panoramic view of Lord Siva’s name, makes sure your mind is left with the chant – Siva Siva.

Pictures speak a thousand words – so here you go for some visual imagery of our very own Mylapore of Madras. 

Parcel

Story# 1 of the year: After a writing sabbatical ~ 3 years later~

Returning from Phoenix Market City on a busy Sunday evening. It’s business as usual for the pavement peddlers – 1 week into the plastic ban. Curious to see how the city is embracing the ban, I stopped by at a sweet corn vendor’s shop and asked for a packet to be parceled. Bang came the response – no parcel here. Well, I wasn’t too bothered either about taking home the sweet corn due to the disinterest in the peddler’s response. There could have been other ways employed, if not plastic, for him to pack the sweet corn up.

Walking a few steps forward, I found a “masala kadalai vendor”, this time I was determined to take home the “masala kadalai”, simply because it’s more appetizing than the timid sweet corn option. So the very first question I asked him was – “Anna, do you have parcel?” He was quick to respond with a smile – “Yes mam, but only paper”. Perfect. That’s all I was expecting. While waiting for the 2 parcels that I had ordered, the journalist brain in me was itching to ask how business has been, post the plastic ban. Even before I could ask him the question, he asked me in turn – “Mam, how do you perceive the plastic ban, do you welcome it?” I responded in the affirmative saying it is going to bring about a good change to the environment. The vendor appreciated the response and added on saying, “very nice to know that you youngsters are ‘for’ this plastic ban. This ban will surely make our environment cleaner. Plastic takes time to decompose, so this is good for all of us, including the animals!”

Happy with his response, the one thing I asked him was – “does this ban affect your business in any way?” He quipped quickly saying – “there’s no connection between that and this.” I thanked him for the parcels and said bye. 

The only regret though is, I forgot to ask for his name!

How amazing it is to see someone at the grass root level, being so aware of the environment and talks about eco-friendliness. I am not sure if this man is one of a kind, however, this random interaction turned out to be an educative and positive one!

Here’s to a plastic free Chennai!

Pause, break, and write a few letters!

Online, Offline, Away, Do Not Disturb, Last Seen or anything that indicates your online presence or absence – phew! So much, just because you are signed-on to multiple chat applications at a time in the name of better connectivity. This is a battle that is perhaps dealt with almost day in and day out in most of our lives. Easy accessibility just ruins the whole idea of longing for something you love. For now, the moment you long for something, the next moment it is with you (at least it is added to the cart) – anything from a product to a person. In the end, there is a lot of time left – so what follows is looking for reasons to whine about not being available online. “I saw you last at this time – but you never responded”, that’s what most of us hear. Well, how do you respond to this? Isn’t it a matter of choice or self-discretion?

Taking a detour for a change and going back to letter writing would give an immense sense of gratification and is an antidote to anxiety. It brings the mad rush to a grinding stop and ushers a new lease of life – letting you breathe easy. By all means it is time consuming – for it is the longer route that we are choosing to take – we are trying to break internet conventions – we don’t get to see the ‘’green’’ light indicating you are online – neither do we get to see the ‘’tick marks’’ denoting delivery of a message. In the event though, it teaches us a lesson, that of patience. The wait feels purposeful. We are not glued to the mobile phone in this case, you don’t become square-eyed looking at the phone; waiting for the notification to appear. There are other things that you might want to pay attention to, yet the degree of anticipation remains high. There is a lot of passion involved and the outcome, though sweaty, is sweet. When the letter does arrive at your doorstep, emotions reach the brim and flow out – because there is so much to read about and write a response to. As you read, the response forms up mentally and are translated into words.

Malayalam movie Ennu Ninte Moideen portrays this beautifully. Moideen and Kanchana Mala await each other’s letters with so many mixed emotions – tearfulness, sadness, anxiety, patience, happiness and what not? Yet the spirit of their love just does not wane. It only goes to show that true love never fails to understand. Beyond everything, being accessible/available all the time sort of brings the charm down. Absence makes the heart grow fonder after all. There is a whole lot of pain that you may need to endure, but it is definitely rewarding.

While it is not always possible to adapt this method of communication, it is certainly advisable to detox from internet, occasionally and experience life as it unfolds. It only helps to recharge our batteries and come back stronger – for it fortifies relationships much more than any other treatment. For this is a great exercise for the mind, body and soul, entirely.

Charlie

Watch Charlie, it is a celebration by itself – so I was told by a friend. The viewing was anyway a surety; albeit I was working up a sense of preparedness which in turn worked out positive! 

So the movie. This isn't really a review; or a story-revealing exercise. Those of you reading this post would anyway want to watch the movie, for the metaphor for Charlie shall be – Celebration. So even if you end up knowing aspects of the celebration, you would still want to go ahead and celebrate it yourself right? That's what I am hinting at – it is the way you experience Celebration. 

Charlie revolves around Kochi – a Kochi that is shown again and again in just about every other Malayalam movie. However this one, took a different route by making the city look vibrant, talking to us in colours – blue, fuchsia, gold, silver, green, yellow and orange. The lavish display of paintings and murals on walls on road and shop-sides were a sensory treat – it was as though the city was dipped in Biennale. 

And then there's Tessa – the first thing that attracted me to her was her feisty nose pin. Oxidised silver; forming thin concentric circles. Her way of dressing shows her free spirit all the way. Nothing obscene or vulgar. Just the right pieces of clothing with a great sense of colour combination. However there's her messiness – which makes her look imperfectly beautiful. Tessa wearing sandals from different pairs is talked about by her friend in fractions of seconds; the scene remains in my head. Girls who are otherwise shown as all dolled-up, Tessa beats all conventions! 

And then there's Kani – always tomboyish – riding a bullet, wearing full-sleeve cotton kurtas, with a bobbed hairdo. How she hits rock-bottom in life and rises up is something that is inspiring. Her way of essaying this role is adorable. 

Love can never let you down. This is beautifully proved with the story weaved around Nedumudi Venu and his teenage love. 

Then our man is here – Dulquer Salman, shown as an ever-elusive guy. Rugged clothing, a zombie so to say. The beard he sports is just perfect – the texture of his beard's hair and the thickness of his hair with a smile streaking past his cheeks. Every minutiae about this character is charming. 

End of story – do watch Charlie for more. 

Pongal Post

The teacher in the class would go –  write a "composition" on Festivals of India. As a child from 3rd or 4th standard, the very word "composition" meant only some write-up on a topic and nothing beyond; for it's just the assignment that would strongly come to mind. And so the festivals of India –  while Diwali is an easy pick, I always had more content for Pongal. The reason was very simple : we have Pongal, Mattu Pongal and then Kanum Pongal! Writing about all the 3 days of Pongal would easily fill the pages of the book for the composition. Oh and how could I forget Bogi!

As a city dweller, there are some standard images that come to mind and then put into words - Of colourful pots, beautifully adorned cows with the bell around their neckline dangling, making a resonating sound amidst the vehicles abuzz on the city streets. I always wanted to be in a village to experience Pongal for that is where the heart of this fest lies. "Kanum Pongal" actually would make more sense to a person from a village –  as a person in the city, we are anyway constantly in the process of seeing things - you wouldn't go to the beach or the movies simply on account of Kanum Pongal for it's a weekend getaway!

The whole Pongal paraphernalia feels fulfilling but leaves me wondering constantly : here's an Indian festival (that too South Indian), which is both on the menu as well as on the list of holidays!
Happy Pongal by the way!

The adorable street calf

If it's Pongal, then there needs to be sugarcane!

A lady at the Pot stall

Of clay and its shapes