Hi again, world!

Hi world (I mean those litlle numbers who view this blog)! I'm back here after a while.

What did I do in this long time where I wrote no word here? Like the phoenix, tore myself down and rebuilt my life again!! Well I went to India. Each trip to India is such a memorable experience.

Winter in Hyderabad these days, is an amazing experience. The month of Kartika is beautiful- coming as it does after Diwali and how each house is decorated with lamps and how all temples send a lighted lamp up their flagposts! The mild chill that invades the city slowly, seems to carry with it a mystical quality. The early morning wind carries songs from temples. The afternoon sun is like soothing balm. Evenings are poignant. Thus days pass, like a tug of war between warmth and cold! Then as Kartika gives in to Margazhi, that holy month of devotion, the city is filled with fervour. The black colour is ubiquitous- this is the time at which the devotions of pilgrims to Sabarimala reach their peak. The Sabari pilgrims form groupsin neighbourhoods everywhere: colonies, markets and shops, and there are bhajan mandalis all around. Early mornings, noons and evenings they gather and chant aloud. In temples and streets batches after batches of devotees go around singing and dancing- 'Swami appa Ayyappa, Saranam appa Ayyappa, Swami tingana tom tom, Ayyappa tingana tom tom' , 'Rajadhi Rajane, veera Manikandane'..

India! beloved India!

I must sign off now, but I thought I must mention something unconnected to that para above: I found this really funny, the reposte that Prem Panicker, rediff cricket columnist gave to someone who was fooling around during a recent chat session with him:

sraidas : prem why are you wasting time like this.is it true that u are jobless and can do anything to get a piece of bread?

Prem Panicker : Oh lovely -- do you normally waste YOUR time chatting up jobless people?