At Chancery Pavillion

Well here I am having a great opportunity to have dinner with the Vice President of the company. I was excited as I was chosen one among the other 30 members in the whole lot of 1300 employees to be part of the dinner. The venue was the Chancery Pavillion. Reached on time. We are the first ones to be present. It's become a trend that every activity planned on time should be delayed. Its become a part of the Indianism, but I am totally unlike this. I value time and I expect others to do the same. But somehow cannot expect this from the VP right ? He should be an example for the others. But he was a wrong example. Planned to start at 7.00, started only at 8.30. During this time i got time to wonder around this grand 3 star hotel. I could take wonderful pics.

Ones the VIP was present introduction started as usual and until 10.00pm my chance never came up. I had to leave as I was obliged to. I was wondering how I would drive in the empty roads for 15 Kms. I did not have the dinner. I reached home at 11.00 to see my lovely son waiting for me. He is very composed and I took a day to get him back to normal.

We go hunting for something and do not get what we expect but there is always home which will make you forget the bad part of life.

Trip to Guruvayoor

Guruvayoor is the holy city in Kerala, India. It's the place where many devotee's of Lord Krishna come with their humble prayers. We reached there on 8th Aug 2009 and checked in to a nice hotel. The temple is open from Morning 3.30am - 12.00 pm and opens again in the evening at 4.30pm goes on until 12.00am. We decided to visit the temple in the evening and set to explore the city. We went to Mammiyoor Shiva Temple. Unfortunately I was not able to enter the temple because I was not in the attire as per temple instructions . Ladies needs to wear Saree and Men need to wear "Mundu" only, showing their bare cheast. Only my parents could enter and they were very excited after the 'darshan'. Lesson to be learnt when visiting temples in Kerala is that ladies have to wear Saree's else sometime it will turn out to be bad luck



Then we went to "Ana Thavalam" the Elephant Location. Its a first time that I witnessed 58 elephants at one time. I was not allowed to take the camera. So, the sad sight remains with me. The reason I call it sad is because I had to pass by these 'worlds largest animal' who had huge iron chains tied to one leg at the front and one leg at the back. They are in no position to even turn from the position that they were standing. I felt each elephant was telling me to help him , to remove the horrible chains. It was only pain that I found in their eyes. I really would not want to go to that place again. Keralites are known to be elephant lover's but the way this wild animal is tamed is very cruel.



Finally at 4.30pm we stood in the queue to get the sight of the Lord. It took 2 hrs for us to reach the door of the deity and pay are respects. I felt touched by the view.

Changing Culture

Note: The note below is not intended to offend anyone. Its just thoughts which I have scribbled.
Today I had to attend an Marriage engagement. It is not a normal one. What's different? Girl is a Keralite, Boy is a Kannadiga. The normal one for us would be couple's who are part of the same community. Before I go ahead, let me tell you the formality followed in the marriage ceremony
For Engagement
Keralite: No Girl or Boy present during the 'discussion', only relatives (only men) and neighbourhood members..
Kannadiga : Both are present, could be told that its like a mini marriage. Garland is exchanged, only the knot tieing does not happen
For Marriage:
Keralite: Its a maximum 10 min task. All done, have lunch and boy takes the girl to his house. Its his complete responsibility to look after her.
Kannandiga : It's a 3 day trail..Situation from epic's dram's are considered and the men are supposed to enact them. Gifts are supposed to be displayed in front of the purohit and that's how the girl's financial capability are measured. The boy is showered with all the gifts from A-Z from the girls side so that he should be able to take care of the girl. ( Good for him:)). Demands are made ( but its not named as dowry). After the last lunch on the 3rd day, girl is supposed to take the boy to her house, stay for 2 days and then the boy takes her to his home.

Got to know that, in this occasion both the girl's and the boy's house members are not very keen in getting them married. But, what to do? It's the generation NEXT, its their world and they have option to change the routine practice and bring change in the deep rooted culture which was practiced from ages. May be its time for change. We in the intermediate generation need to decide on which to opt. Be a part of the new generation or the old. What happens if we are part of the old ? We will be left behind for sure. What happens if we are part of the new, we will loose the strong culture that we grew up with. I am in a dilemma.
To conclude, let me tell you what happened on this occasion. The boys system of engagement was followed, the girls parents were forced to do the rituals which they had never practiced in their life. The girl had changed her caste to be part of the boys community. That's a great sacrifice. As we say 'Marriage is a compromise", but here the girl before getting married had to low down to the boy's demands, and she has to give up her self esteem ( which is acceptable to her). At least everyone pretended to be happy, and all the other (except the bride and groom to be) wondering how will the marriage happen. I could see the happiest people in that occasion was the Girl and the Boy who in spite of all odds had managed to get the engagement done.