The Marari experience

When a three day vacation is in the offing and you will be starting from Dindugul in Tamilnadu, what better place to visit than the lovely Kerala? It has almost become a ritual for me to visit Kerala once a year. And everytime I go, I want to keep coming again and again. Combining this vacation with my wedding anniversary celebration, the travel planning part of my brain got activated. I looked into different resorts and travel possibilities, booked the train tickets and finally narrowed down to Marari Beach resort in a village named Mararikulam near Alleppey. I love planning a vacation and it makes me realize that travel planning could be considered as an alternate career :-)

The resort is around 60 kms from Ernakulam railway station. With the exorbitant charges for pickup claimed by the resort, we decided to arrange on our own. Thanks to the taxis right outside the station, we were able to reach the village for a reasonable price. The vast expanse of the greenery inside the resort took us by surprise. After the registrations, hubby and I headed to the restaurant for a cup of tea. We couldn't wait to go near the quiet beach. It took us some time to accept the fact that the clean beach was all for ourselves. A few fishermen were setting off at a distance. Since this is the end of off-season, very few visitors from abroad were staying in the resort. A row of hammocks beside the shore was a perfect way to relax and unwind. While admiring the serene surroundings and the tall coconut trees, our stomachs started to growl and we had a nice, sumptuous breakfast. There are many activities that one can take up within the resort. Country Boat rides and sunset cruises are also available but at an extra cost. As we have already experienced these boat rides in Kumarakom, we decided to spend the time in the resort for the next 2.5 days.

The naturalist took us around the resort, explaining about different flora and fauna. The vegetable garden, recycling mechanisms, bio-composts and other treatment plants show the environment friendly mechanisms they have been adopting. He is a very good photographer and helped us to take some amazing snaps for spiders, butterflies and fishes. It was a bright and sunny day and our moods were upbeat. Lazing around on the hammocks with the breeze gradually taking us to a short nap - one might appreciate the complete relaxation. We spent the evening in the beach, enjoying the sunset and collecting sea shells. Even the waves didn't want to disturb the peace prevailing in the beach that they decided to keep it low.

Cookery show by the chef gave a glimpse of the preparation styles of traditional fish curry of Kerala. Having shown tremendous interest during the show, the chef was wondering why I didn't taste the dish. A vegetarian by nature but doesn't mind watching the preparation of non-veg dishes - that's me! The day ended with a romantic, candle light dinner and live classical music.

Thunderstorms and heavy rains woke us up the next morning. We prayed that the sky clears up fast so we could get bathed in sun's rays and get tanned. Our prayers were answered and we celebrated with a bicycle ride around the village. The roads were very bad but there was just no traffic. While hubby enjoyed a swim in the pool, I finished reading an interesting book "A year by the sea". To wrap up the relaxation process, we tried out some meditation in the evening along with a guide. The next morning was the tryst with beautiful butterflies in the garden, with my camera trying to capture the beauty as much as it can. After a heavy lunch, it was time to bid goodbye to the resort and head to the railway station. The sun didn't want to bid farewell so it had sent its dear friends, black clouds and downpour.

We just loved this place and it was a memorable experience. CGH Earth does it again, after our superb Coconut Lagoon experience. A trip to Marari Beach can relax, refresh and rejuvenate.

let the rambling begin

Although unattended and unvisited, I don't want my blog to end up like the hundreds of blogs that started around the same time as mine. I wouldn't call this huge gap as a writer's block. I believe a block would occur when you sit down to write something but words don't come out. But this didn't happen to me, rather I was busy shuffling between many things that I didn't happen to sit down in the first place and ponder. I need to allocate some time to reflect and analyze my course of action.

This brings to my mind an interesting book that I got to read - "A year by the sea" by Joan Anderson. Although the perspective is different, I can relate to the protogonist's feelings in some way. Joan aged 50 years feels that she has been living her whole life running around with family responsibilities and taking care of her kids' demands. One fine day, she decides to let go of everything and move to a small cottage by the sea shore for a year. Living by her own means, reflecting on how her life turned out to be and drawing inspiration from the sea and seals, she turns out to be a strong and happy person. With no rules to abide by, she sets a course for herself, takes risks and tries out many new activities like selling fish which she wouldn't dare to dream about on a normal day. It was an interesting and thoughtful read.

One starking perspective was the engagement with nature that can be a healing and a rejuvenating experience. Living in a metropolitan city like Bangalore with rushing around all the time, such engagement seems to be rare but those few moments can have a big impact. For instance, the other day I went to a nearby grocery store to get some vegetables. It was a weekday evening and so the crowd was comparatively less. The fresh vegetables of varied colors and shapes, the aroma of coriander and mint leaf bunches and the sheer variety of vegetables got me all cheered up. I bought minimal quantities of different veggies and my refrigerator is now neatly stocked up. I have been trying different South Indian dishes for dinner these days, call it the repercussion effect.

Last Sunday was rather a special tryst with nature. With cloudy and gloomy days gone past, the sun was shining brightly. The afternoon rays entered my living room through my orange colored curtains, giving a bright orangish feel to my home. The mini red roses in my garden blossomed like a flower bouquet, adding more sheen to the green grass. The squeaking squirrels were running around and the tiny butterflies were playing with the flowers. Such a beautiful afternoon cannot be complete without a hot cup of cardamom tea. It was a heavenly feeling and hoping to have more such moments every week.

The view

My contribution to 3WW - XCVIII

The sun so close to slumber
clouds creating hues and shapes
in the canvas of blue sky,

a loner bird alongside
vast expanse of the lake
wings flapping briskly

Reaching for the million stars,
unnoticed but unruffled
time bound but unflurried

rhythmic movements in the air
a linear flight to be admired
the view spectacular and gorgeous!

No mere coincidence

There is one name that I'm associated with in one form or another in the years of my life so far - be it a friend, a neighbour, a hero or a class mate. And that name is "Karthik". My childhood friend who used to be my neighbour is "Karthik". I had another younger friend in my apartment with a similar name "Karthikeyan". In high school, one of my friends who used to be a big fan of cricket, updating me with scores regularly in class hours is "Karthick". As though real characters are not enough, the fictional characters came to the limelight.

My most favorite Tamil movies are Mouna Raagam, Kaadhal Desam and Alai Payuthey. Guess what, the heroes are "Karthik"s. Karthik's character in Mouna Raagam, although it's a guest role is etched in my memory forever. The few scenes between him and Revathy have portrayed beautifully, the playfulness, fun and love. I cannot stand the fact that he gets killed due to unforeseen circumstances.

Kaadhal Desam has two heroes - a poetic, simple and down-to-earth Karthik, a charming and handsome Arun. The short verses that Karthik writes thinking about Dhivya (the heroine) are simple and adorable. Wish I could write such poetry! Madhavan is perfect for the role of Karthik in AlaiPayuthey. Although Indian cinema has seen many movies of the genre "Rich boy falls in love with poor girl", Alaipayuthey is different in its execution and style.

When I thought that association with the name "Karthik" cannot go on for so long, I meet my soul mate whose name is "Karthikeyan". One of my best friends in the past six years is "Karthik" although everyone calls him by another name always.

I'm not sure how many more "Karthik"s I am going to meet in the rest of my life. Although it's a very common name in South India, this irony in my life seems to be interesting.

Another meaning to DML

Ever since I started learning about Oracle database sometime back in college, DML always meant Data Manipulation Language. But from July 2008, DML means something else and also a special one. I'm one of the top rank holders in the first year of PGSEM 2007 batch and I'm part of the Director's merit list (in short, DML). It's a nice feeling to get this award since the competition among the 140 students in my class has been intense throughout the year. Although I was aware about this award when I enrolled in PGSEM, I never aimed for getting this award until Quarter 4 started (I swear!).

Due to the initial enthusiasm, Quarter 1 went really well for me. In Quarter 2, there was a huge monster called Macroeconomics which pulled down my good CGPA very badly. In Quarter 3, another not-so-huge monster called Law swallowed some more decimal points from my CGPA. At the end of quarter 3, I was at rank 15. That was when I realized I have a chance to get into top 10. With encouragement from good friends and little more hard work, I finally made it to DML.

Yippee....I can now proudly frame the certificate and hang it on my living room wall :-) The year that started well and ended well! Something to cheer about after a busy year of work and studies!