Super San Antonio

         
       The mesmerising River Walk is one of the main attractions in the city of San Antonio.We could spend only three hours in the city of San Antonia after attending the wedding of my cousin's daughter in Austin.A co passenger who happened to be from Chennai,flew with me from Kansas City to Dallas.He had done his Master's in San Antonia and lovingly insisted that, going all the way to Austin, though only for two days, the River Walk of San Antonia, just two hours drive should never be missed.


      The grandeur of the boat ride through the river for 40 minutes covering the entire city with its hotels, offices, historic buildings on both the sides of the river was awesome.Actually this is not a kind of river like any other river with sand banks on either sides but concrete walk ways and buildings, something rare and also picturesque.


    This wonderful view of river with the buildings seemed to be a miniature of Venice, despite the fact that Venice is more excellent in its majesty and magnitude.My brother from Detroit and a paternal cousin from Tennessee, also invitees for the wedding had backed up this trip from Austin to San Antonia and back.

          A word of thanks to them and the co passenger !

The Gala Wedding

           The gala wedding of my cousin's daughter held at his place, Austin is one the happiest and memorable moments of my second visit to US.Meticulous were the arrangements in each and every aspect, be it the decoration of the marriage podium and hall, the costumes of the bride, bride groom, their parents, hospitality shown to the invitees,the food etc.


         Weddings are always joyous occasions for us to bless the couple, to meet our relatives and friends, to renew the connections with the acquaintances, to become nostalgic and go down the memory lane, and also enjoy new contacts and of course the delicious wedding feasts.When the wedding is organised in a distant land, it becomes an event of double joy, happiness and enthusiasm. 

        Only the venue of the wedding happened to be miles away from our hometown but it was very much our wedding in respect of all the rituals, traditions and customs right from the auspicious Rose Manjal Thirumana Pathirikkai, Mappillai Azhaippu, Yanai Kudhirai Arasanipanai,Mulaipari Thelilthal, Pallangkuzhi Aduthal, Appalam Udaithal, Thengai Uruttuthal and so on,without any compromise. The real efforts, a natural outcome of the mutual love, care and interest of the close knit family seemed obvious, making the event grand and memorable.

      The Colour Purple, also an acclaimed novel by Alice Walker, a living legend among the American authors, was the theme of the wedding.The alternate invitation for the wedding, the the decoration of the wedding dais and the back drop, petals on the dinner tables and the glittering Sarees looked pretty and gorgeous in the purple colour. 

      The occasion made evident how my cousin's family maintains the ties with their friends and relatives.Such a huge crowd,from not only the local place but also from different parts of US and a few countries on both the days, one on the day of wedding in a star hotel and the next on day of the reception in one of the halls of the University of Texas was said to be unprecedented in most of the weddings held at US.

            The South Indian food arranged was very delicious and enjoyed well by the Americans.Many of them in our costumes of Sarees and Kurthas looked graceful.My cousin's family personally took care of each and everyone of the invitees.They were very overwhelmed at the presence of their cousins,relatives and friends from far and wide.

          Watching the weddings online, is known to us.Now,thanks to the 
parents of the bride, the auspicious occasion was enjoyed live by about two hundred of our relatives with fun, blessings and a sumptuous buffet in the Banquet Hall of Hotel Aryas at our home town, Tirunelveli. A novel and noble gesture!

        May God bless the couple with all prosperity and joy in their married life.

                

                    
               

A Happy Reunion

               A big thanks to my cousin and his spouse for organising the wedding of their daughter in the last week of August in Austin, that coincided with my visit to my daughter's house in Kansas.

               My last visit happened to be a great reunion of the three classmates in the city of Detroit.This time Austin turned to be the venue for the joyous wedding as well as the memorable meeting of siblings, aunts, uncles, relatives, niece and nephew from far and wide.

              The happy announcement of the wedding of my cousin's daughter at Austin, his home for more than twenty years was known to me five months prior to my departure to US.The very moment, I decided to attend the wedding.More than being my cousin,younger to me by two years and exactly of my immediate younger brother's age, he was very much a childhood friend for both of us in Tirunelveli, our hometown till he left for Coimbatore for his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees at the prestigious and magnificent Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. 

           On the occasion of the birth of my son in late 1970s, the greeting cards congratulating on the arrival of the new one, not common in those days sent by both of them, my cousin, a student of TNAU,Coimbatore and my brother of the Regional Engineering College, Trichi,now renamed NIIT are still cherished by me as treasures.

         In those days of living together in the same town paved the way naturally for strengthening the ties with the extended family members, developing an intimacy, the quality of compromise, feeling of security etc.No games with the computers, ipads but all outdoor games like Kabbadi, Killi, Pambaram, so on under the canopy of the branches  of the Mango and Tamarind trees. 

     For us girls with no gender bias of excluding boys, indoor games galore, naming a few are Cards, Thayakattam, Pambukattam, Pallanguzhi and Kalachi, a game  played by the girls with the throwing and catching of seven pebbles one after one in rhythmic motion using both the hands.Can there be a better indoor exercise for the entire arms, wrist, eyes and above all developing a focus with the eyes and a power of concentration with the mind simultaneously!Not the days of indoor equipments for exercise, investing a sizable amount!

    Going  to take bath and swim in the great perennial river, Thamirabharani, the life and pride of Tirunelveli, playing Pandi, other games and drawing water from the well could act as conditioners for physical fitness.

    Be it Kapparichai livu, Quarterly holidays,Arapparichai livu, Half Yearly holidays,Muzhu Parihcai livu, Annual vacation, a commuting by a town bus with the fare  of 20 paise  could bridge the gap of five miles between our houses.It was also fun going to movies, discussing them, taking sides with the great  heroes of those days, Sivaji and MGR, Jayshankar and Sivakumar.

    The crown of all the feathers is the visit to our family temple called Malai koil, nestled in the beautiful, sylvan settings of the Western Ghats.

    Above all drenched in the love and care of all the aunts, uncles, Achi and Thatha, the golden days of the childhood, partly enjoyed by our children could only be heard but rarely experienced by most of the kids of the future generation!

    

Grandpa Turned Corporate

             A very Senior Executive in an MNC, that is my younger brother was nothing but a wonderful Thatha to my grandson, Jiji of four and a half during his stay with us for three days at the residence of my daughter at Overland Park, Kansas.

            My brother was on a purely personal trip to US to attend the wedding of  a cousin's daughter at Austin, Texas. En route he had a break with us.Despite being a busy executive, he graces us with his presence on all the auspicious occasions of our big family, be it a Wedding, Engagement, 60 th B'day or 80 th B'day.Yet it would appear that he was physically present with his mind full of preoccupations about work.True, that the face is the index of the mind.

          The picture became totally different for the three days,on playing the role of an affectionate grandfather perfectly. Jiji also felt very comfortable calling him Thatha, hundred times a day, getting glued to him at home or at the outing or on the drive to his preschool or swimming class.Both of them were kids in their role play, reciting of rhymes and dance. All this seemed to be a typical flash back of the good old happy days,he spent with my son of the same age during his vacation from the IIM nearly three decades back.

       These days," Tension " has evolved into a buzz word even with the toddlers, a word unknown and unsaid by us till a few years ago.

       The best panacea is taking time off to disconnect the modern gadgets and reconnect with a mind cent percent charged only with love and care.

         

Uzhavar Sandhai at Kansas

                            Uzhavar Sandhai, only the name is Tamil but the Farmer's Market of the Kansas City where I felt very much at home with the crowd, is thousands of miles away from our home state

                           A couple of weeks back, while sharing my reflections on Adi Velli and missing my nativity,never had it occurred to me then that soon my visit to this Farmer's Market would make up for the loss and carry me very much to our local markets.That may be the daily Uzhavar Sandhai, just a ten minutes walk from our house at Coimbatore, other weekly Sandhais  within a radius of three kilometres from our residence, the mammoth Friday Sandhai at Sulur.The attractive Sandhais pictured in our Tamil films mostly in the fight scenes can be a perfect replica of the Farmer's Market here minus the hero and his enemies.

                  One side we can see  colourful tents selling garments, in an other stall small toys are heaped and so on.Then the long roofed corridors with the farmers standing behind the tables with their products on the table in small bowls called baskets.The tags with the price per basket is on the table.Their vehicles mostly vans and trucks  used for transporting their farm proucts from the farms can be seen parked near them.Right from our Vendaikkai, Katharikkai, Kothavarai, Murungaikkai , Vazhaipoo, Avaraikkai , Araikkerai, Murungaikkeerai all very fresh directly from the farms beckon us to buy everything.

                 What was so  joyous,surprising and exciting was the sight of the Pachai Sundaikkai,green and raw. Even in our hometown, Coimbatore, this Sundaikkai  is got   mostly from the kitchen gardens and rarely available in the markets. This Sundaikkai is very much relished by my daughter.During her visits to our hometown,at times it is sad that she has to forgo them, neither available in the kitchen garden nor in the market.So what else can make a mother happy to find the beloved vegetable of her kid in a faraway land, which has become her home!

             This green Sundaikkai is sold as Thai Brinjal or Pea Eggplant.Here Brinjal is tagged as Eggplant in all the Indian Stores and so also in the online cookery recipes.Our Brinjal and sundaikkai is much used in Thai Cuisines.

           Tender coconuts and Karumbu Juice delighted us as it was hot here in the mid of August.Similar to our Sandhais, cookies and eatables, not branded are displayed and sold in small sack.A number of small shops like our petty tea shops with the sound of the music could be spotted round.

           What made me happy and feel at home is the surging crowd holding the children in the hands or pushing  them in the strollers.Such a crowd has not been witnessed by me so far in the hospitals, big malls or even international airports.

            One more aspect of this Market worthy to be recorded is only cash payments, quite contrary to the system of swiping the cards everywhere even for transactions of less than five dollars.This seemed to me a different side of US.In and around the market,men singing and seeking arms could be sighted.

          Be it it India or the US, markets and masses go together!

          That is universality! 

            

Two Prime Ministers Meet

                 

Nanbenda!

                    True Friends ! This was the title given earlier. What immediately comes to one's mind is a long time friendship or a friend in need, as the adage, A friend in need is a friend in deed.

                  This interesting friendship, at the age of less than five, true to the age is beyond the nations, colour and race.

                 My beloved grand son, Jiji, four and a half years old had been studying in a pre school and that was closed in June, July and the first week of August. So he was admitted in a different school during the break.

             Every evening Jiji used to return from his class and ramble on about the happenings at school. Landon was found to be his close friend.Daily Landon's name would figure in his talk.

           In the first week of this month, Friday was the last day for Jiji in the summer class.The following week his old pre school was going to be reopened.On the last day Jiji was late to school. Landon was eagerly waiting for Jiji. On seeing him, Landon became wild with joy, hugging him and showering him with toys. 

            Back home after dropping her son at the school, my daughter was little upset, that the dear friends  would not meet each other on Monday.I chided her for not clicking them in her phone.Later,to our pleasant joy, the teacher had mailed a picture of both the boys, titled The Best Friends.

          During Jiji's return from school in the evening, to our surprise there was a tag attached to his bag with Landon's name and a contact no. Jiji' father had gone to school to pick him up.The teacher told him that Landon' mom had already picked him up, sticking a note of her contact number on Jiji's bag.What a momentary thought and presence of mind ! My son in law had given our contact no. to the teacher to be passed on to Landon's mom on Monday.

        Both the moms talked over the phone.Dates were scheduled, rescheduled and finalised for the two Prime Ministers to meet.

        A week later,yesterday, being a Sunday, both the Prime Ministers had their high level talks, playing and having snacks and ice creams in an indoor play area.

       Sadly, both the friends parted after an hour with a heavy heart !

       

The Irresistible Call of Adi Velli

           Looking back at Coimbatore,the music of the devotional songs  from the nearby temples, the decorations and the colourful garlands outside the temples, the rustling of the glittering silk and semi silk sarees of the women folk, their hair adorned with Malligai Poo, a sight very common on the road,in the commuters to work and also at work, people thronging with the Vettrilai,  Pakku, Pazham and Thengai to the temples in the evening, are more than enough to declare that the Friday must be a special Friday like Adi Velli.        


         Thousands of miles across the oceans from our place, as long as we are inside the house , everything is very much Indian, to be true, very much like Tamil Nadu,even Coimbatore with the same food,all the items A- Z, from Vazhaipoo, Vazhai Thandu, Murungaikeerai available at the 5 or 6 Indian stores within a radius of 3 kms, all the Tamil Programmes telecast by the popular Tamil Satellite channels, the Poojas performed for all the festivals at home, inviting the ladies for Thamboolam on auspicious days can bring a festive fervour inside the house but never the ambiance of the parts of our country interwoven with the celebrations of not only Adi Velli but any religious or national festival.

      But we made it to the local Hindu temple, at a drive of 20 minutes on the first Adi Velli, which also happened to be the first day of the Tamil month, Adi.

     Adi is also the month, when people offer Adi Kouzh to Amman and distribute it to the devotees.My mother, an Octogenarian with an unflinching courage enjoyed the prerogative of preparing a very big pot of Koozh with the aid of the maids and offered it to the people with the Murungai Keerai, which is said to be the combination for the porridge in Chennai. 

         This year is the inauguration of the offering of the Adi gruel by my mom. For years, Annadanam is offered at our door steps on the occasion of the Arupathu Moovar Thiruvizha, a rare celebration of the 63 Nayanmars at the Shiva Temples but a grand festival of the Kapaleeswarar temple in Chennai.With the falling of this festival on convenient days in the year make me take off from my work to go to Chennai and enjoy the Thiruvizha.

      Next year, let me be a part of this Adi Festival with my mom in Chennai and invoke the blessings of the Goddess.