Gift for a two year old girl

It has been a long absence from blogging, I am back now and hope to post once a week.

We are going to visit our friends this week and I was searching the web for a gift for their two year old daughter.I got boys and had no clue whatsoever on what she would like. Searching the web I found some good reviews and have decided to get a play mat for our friends daughter.



This is a doodle mat with a water pen and is completely mess free. But the best thing I liked about it is the pen that uses water and no ink, how much more kid friendly can you get. I hope she enjoys doodling on this.

On love...

Don't go far off... by Pablo Neruda

Don't go far off, not even for a day, because --
because -- I don't know how to say it: a day is long
and I will be waiting for you, as in an empty station
when the trains are parked off somewhere else, asleep.

Don't leave me, even for an hour, because
then the little drops of anguish will all run together,
the smoke that roams looking for a home will drift
into me, choking my lost heart.

Oh, may your silhouette never dissolve on the beach;
may your eyelids never flutter into the empty distance.
Don't leave me for a second, my dearest,

because in that moment you'll have gone so far
I'll wander mazily over all the earth, asking,
Will you come back? Will you leave me here, dying?

This post is dedicated to all who step up and show they care......

Netflix for Handbags

This Valentine you can gift your loved one a subscription to Bag Borrow or Steal

Rubiks Revolution

Rubik's Revolution," a supposed "sequel" to the original Rubik's Cube will be in Stores in 122 days

Innocent and Irinjalakuda

Innocent and Irinjalakuda- they seem to go so well together. Whenever I mention to anyone from Kerala that my native place is near Irinjalakuda the immediately response is “Isn’t that where Innocent is from? And If I ever see anyone blinking I volunteer “I am from Innocents place”. Mention Innocent and I am always awarded with an innocent smile, a huge grin and entry into the inner circle. After all Innocent’s nattukar should be innocent .Right?

How come nobody ask me about Jayachandran? Or Edavela Babu (I heard of him first while he was a student of Irinjalakuda Boys High School, judging from the mallu movies I watch it seems like he never outgrew college-Lucky him..) If you would like to know more about Innocent and Irinjalakuda do visit his at Parpidam in Cyber space.

Dramatic times ..

I got introduced to Malayalam drama when I was pretty much young. My dad used to be associated with or rather was instrumental in organizing All Kerala Drama Festivals through his Club (I think it was called Falcons) and one of the first malayalam play that I read was a manuscript named Kadalassupookal (Paper Flowers) submitted for entry into this competition.There were also a number of black and white photographs of my dad as the hero of several plays in our family album including some with actress Philomena who incidentally is from Thrissur. (My mother definitely was not crazy about these photos). Needless to say with us kids growing up he had very little time to spend nurturing his club and the remnants of his venture like the shiny satin curtains was put to good use as draperies in my house.

Still I used to get a regular dose of Malayalam dram through my one of my uncles who was a connoisseur of drama. We used to visit their house every summer and he would take me and my brother out along with his family to watch the latest Malayalam plays. More than the pleasure of watching the nadakam there was much more enjoyments in the next few days in observing my uncle dissect the drama and the actors and give his critique on their performance. This is was almost like a group discussion the kind one might encounter these days for an MBA admission with everyone including me eager to prove their leadership skills and put their point across and at the same time making sure they do not ruffle any feather while taking the maximum airspace.

My own forays into the world of theater started when I was chosen to play the wicked step mother to Snow White in the school annual day. Not a very auspicious beginning I would say. This progressed into romantic hero roles during my senior years which kind of were a disaster considering I always wanted to be the romantic heroine. Only time I ever got to play a women on stage was once in school youth festival when I played the role of Sakuntala’s Thozhi.( I swear there was no Sakunthala in the drama, or I am sure I would have landed that role with my histrionic ability.) Once I progressed into women’s college these roles changed to even more snappier ones like a double role as St. Paul and Christ( you are right ..there was no one else ready to carry that cross). A swift end to my interest in the field came after we enacted a serious play at the D Zone arts Festival. School of Drama students from Aranatukkara came in for a little bit of voice coaching and a whole lot of mouth watching (Vai Nottam). They wanted to make sure they make good the only time they could enter into the armored gates of our women’s college without undergoing interrogation that even a terrorist cannot stand (Many a real brother has confessed to being a lover during such interrogation according to college legends).The very serious modern play was initially declared a winner but was later relegated to down under which I still believe was a drama enacted by our arch rivals at the Engineering College against us the fairer sex in womens college. There ends my chapter in dramatics.

Underneath the Mango trees

By the time Christmas holidays is over and the New Year begins I would be eagerly waiting for the summer holidays to begin. Schools in Kerala close only by March end and the teachers are usually busy trying to finish the syllabus before the annual exams. This was not an issue for me as our school had this policy of all pass till 10th grade and I never felt any reason to study for the finals. There was no report card for the final exams. There was just a fail or pass to the next grade posted on the school notice board. One has to be a really bad student not to get promoted to the next grade. It was almost impossible to fail. In the 6 years that I spent in that school I don’t ever remember going and checking the promotion list.

Once the summer holidays starts there was no holding back. It was just fun and more fun for the next two month. It was also a time for visits and stay at my mums and her sister’s house. These home stays always ended in movies and dining out. Of course it was also the Mango season. We woke up to the smell of mangoes. Mum would have gone and picked up basketful of Mangoes.

We had lots of mango trees…..Neelum, Mulgova,Sungari,Thenmavi,Komanga, Nattumanga,Muvandan and Prior (the best of best). We used to run from one mango tree to other collecting fresh mangoes that would keep falling all day. It was like a mango shower. We also had lots of pazhamanga curry (my favorite and my mum makes it best), fish and mango combinations and of course raw mangoes were eaten with salt and chilli powder. It was the best of times.... underneath the Mango trees.