Yet another evening

**Kovalam beach

Relegating to the past tense......

Life has been a good ride so far. No, not a roller-coaster kind of ride. But a shaky ride on a slow moving local bus with frequent bumps and potholes. A ride in which I've been with many people, and looking back on life, getting lost in a train of thoughts and memories, the people I've met, the places I've been, and thinking about how I'll be leaving everything far behind. And like always, a tinge of sadness looms around. But it's the path I chose to travel. And somewhere down the line I hope to say "it was the right path". 

Farewell folks, but it's not goodbye.

The misplaced moron finally falls back into place........and in the blink of an eye he realizes, he has been misplaced again. Poof!  

A day trip

Where art thou going me friend? Just a little ride Sir. Come come oh traveler, jump and hop in with me and I’ll take you places.

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On that comfortable morning, I jumped out of bed thinking about what I’m going to do for the day. It’s a pity that after being here for so many years, I haven’t visited this place 30 kms to the south of my house. So off I set forth to the south after having a hearty breakfast. 

After a short ride on the road, I reached this boat jetty.

From here I need to take a boat to reach, what they call, ‘Poovar Island’.

In fact the only way to reach the island is via a boat.

I hopped into the tiny boat

and sailed through the backwaters

that flows between the verdant green of the aslant coconut trees.

After about 20 minutes of ride I reached this dock.

Stepping onto the dock, I looked straight and saw a beach across the backwaters. And along the beach, one can see an estuary that connects the lake with the sea.

It’s said that the name ‘Poovar’ was given by Marthanda Varma Maharaja, the king of erstwhile state of Travancore, who during his shelter at this place saw a stream of red flowers floating on the lake from the trees along the banks, that seemed like a red carpet on water. The stream was named Poovar by the king (Poo – aar, meaning stream of flowers).

Poovar was a trading center of timber, sandlewood, ivory and spices. It is believed that the trading ships of King Solomon landed in a port called 'Ophir', which is figured out as Poovar.

After having lunch and spending some time in the resort in the island, I set straight for the beach.

Poovar is basically a fishing village, and beach activities are not that developed here.

One peculiarity of this place is that two starkly different landscapes are juxtaposed against each other – on one side there is this greenish waters of the lake

and on the other is the sparkling blue of the sea.

The beach is pretty isolated except for a couple of tourists and some local boys swimming in the backwater side of the beach.

After walking along the beach for quite some time, I returned back to the island. Had some tea and meanwhile it dawned on me that time is almost up to leave this place.

Jumped back in to the boat and sailed through the backwaters again.

As Oscar Wilde says, from the above pic it seems “Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life”.

Fare thee well o island and seas, t’was one of those days

which couldn’t get any better.  

Back to home sweet home. I should be popping up at the dining table just in time for supper.

A few more

Sometime during last August I was preparing for gre and I used to go to the library, where there were some guys preparing for cat, and I soon became acquainted with them. Some incidents during that time –

There was this Vineeth's friend who bought a brand new mobile phone with a 3 MP camera. But to his dismay the pictures taken are all blurred. Incensed at this he takes the mobile to the shop to get it repaired...........Turns out he hadn't removed the sticker in front of the cam.

Unni was a self-proclaimed painter. Once he sketches a person and comes to us and asks how it is.
Vineeth: Adipoli, Heath Ledger kidilam aayirikkunnu.
Shocked and disappointed, Unni turns to me and asks, “ithu aarane enne ninakke thonnunnu?
Me: Undertaker? 
Unni desp. Only later we learned he had actually drawn Emma Watson.

Appu, Unni & Vineeth goes to this rundown, seedy restaurant for lunch; it was the only one nearby. Careful in what they ate, they ordered rice. Pakshe Appuvine athonnum pora. Avane porottayum chicken curryum venam. But avide ini 2 porottas matrame baakki olloo, Appuvine 3 venam. So the boy after a while gives him a 3rd one. Hours later, Appuvine kadinamaya vayaru vedana. Our reckoning – Boy goes to kitchen, and waste basketil kidanna oru porotta eduthe Appuvine koduthu.

Nambi and I went to college to collect LORs, transcripts and other application-related stuff; it's been a long while since we had stepped into college. After collecting the documents from staff adviser, she asks Nambi, “Aa irikkunna teachere okke ormayundo”. Nambi replies, “Pinne, enne 4 semesters padippicha teacher alle, marakkan pattumo”, ennitte oru ilinja chiriyum chiriche avidunne skoot aayi. Kurachu kazhinje he asks me, “Eda aa teacherude peere enthayirunnu”, and I says her name. Nambi – “Njaan vere oru peeranennanu vichariche. Njaan pereduthu parayanjathu bhaagyam. Allarunnenkil chammi poyene”. 

Nambi takes me in his bike to drop me off at the bus stop. Bus stop-ile pennungale kaanumbam avane ichiri ilakkam koodunnathaanu. Bike oru prithyeeka style-il saamanyam nalla speedil avan bus stop-inte mumbil valachu chutti kondu nirthaan nokki. Pakshe avide kurachu manal kidannathu kaaranam bike skid cheythu. Potho ennum paranje Nambiyum njaanum marinjadichu veenu. Bike-inte mirror potti. Nambiyude kai murinju. Ente kaal oranju. Aduthu ninna oru ammavan paranju “Ithe ivanmaarude sthiram paniyanu. Pennungal koodi nilkunna sthalathu bike kondu kore koprayam kanikkanayitte irangum raavile”. Aa keettathil enikke vishamamilla. Pakshe, kandu ninna pennungal adakki pidicha chiri chirikunnathu kande ente hridayam thakarnu. Alpamenkilum undayirunna maanavum poyi. Ennittum ithellaam kazhinje Nambi ente eduthe parayuvane, “aa black dress itta penkutti enne nokki chirichu, nee kandarunno?”. Athe ninne nokki chirichathalla, nee veezhunnathe kandu potti potti chirichathanu, ennu enikke avante eduthu parayanam ennundarunnu; pakshe enthu kondo njaan paranjilla. Maunam nadichu njaan angane irunnu. And to think that Nambi is going to attend Univ. of Southern California with all his antics and number-ukal is a joke in itself. Enthayalum Los Angeles-ile pennungalude heels inu kurachu naalathekku oru pani aayi. Nambiyude kavilinum.

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P.S. Almost 7 months of wait after filling out application forms answering some very embarrassing questions such as what skills and knowledge do I have, finally I got admitted into some universities out of which I got a scholarship and tuition waiver to attend University of Houston, Texas. And as a cherry on top for me, my cousin and her family stays about a one hour drive from the university. As they say, like many other things in life, your options choose you sometimes, not vice versa.

Waiting for life to kick start once again. Hope the kick doesn't land on my teeth though.