RainDrops

The south-western sky over Kakkanad was smudged lilac when Dr. Anand Menon finally peeled off his blood-flecked gloves. A Saturday that had begun with a factory fire, lurched into a bus collision and fizzled out with the usual parade of chest pains left him feeling like a dishrag wrung dry. At thirty-three he was already the unofficial lynch-pin of Lakeshore City Hospital's Emergency Department; solid, unflappable, and so often on call that his mother joked the automatic doors recognised his gait and whispered "Welcome home." He stepped out of the staff gate, stethoscope coiled in a pocket like a tired snake. The air smelled of damp tar and jackfruit leaves; bus headlights cut silver across puddles. Anand was thinking only of the reheated avial waiting in his fridge when he noticed a powder-blue Scooty stalled beneath a fizzing streetlamp. Two women were stranded there. The rider wrestled a stubborn kick-start; the pillion, legs swung to one side, waved cars around with...

When Anvitha first met Rithin, it was in the hum of fluorescent lights and the fragrance of jasmine garlands at a small temple on the outskirts of Alappuzha . Their parents spoke in excited overlaps about horoscopes and train timings; the young pair spoke scarcely at all. She stole a single curious look at him; enough to see the mild confusion behind his polite smile-then lowered her long lashes and turned the look into silence. In that instant, Rithin felt as if a cloud had crossed the sun; the world dimmed yet became mysteriously more vivid. Anvitha was unlike anyone he had seen in the cafés of Koramangala or the glassed-in meeting rooms of his software firm. Her beauty was quiet, almost secretive; A heart-shaped face, all soft angles and sudden mischief, is framed by a river of black hair that never quite behaves; some days it pours straight past her waist, some days it loops into loose waves, and often two rebellious curls slip forward to kiss her cheeks. Wide almond eyes edged w...

(The story is set in 2025, but in the slow heart-beat of rural Kerala where the seasons still start with a sigh of rain. Adapted from the Malayalam cult classic 'Thoovanathumbikal', scripted by Padmarajan.) I. First Mist - Kuttanad, Dawn of Monsoon Long before the sun had chosen a colour for the sky, Ani Nair  unlocked Akshara Offset , the little print-shop that still smelled of his late father's linotype days. A hush lay over the paddy flats; only the oars of an early fisherman knocked the canal water into soft syllables. Then, as if God remembered to breathe, a spray-fine drizzle fell. It was the kind of rain Kuttanad calls mazha manam - you don't see it, you only feel the air getting colder and the earth giving up its perfume of wet chilli leaves and river-silt. Ani closed his eyes, soaked a moment of quiet into his lungs, and kicked his ancient Bajaj Chetak to life. The scooter coughed, grumbled, then decided to be loyal for one more day. He rode to Mariya...

Ravi was on his third cup of chai that evening, huddled by the small, open fireplace in his family’s old stone cottage. Outside, the mountain town of Manali lay still, bathed in moonlight, each street corner covered in a pristine blanket of fresh snow. He could hear the faint sounds of holiday cheer wafting up from the distant marketplace, where vendors sold roasted chestnuts, fresh apples, and handmade woollen shawls to the few tourists braving the winter chill. He hadn’t been back to Manali in nearly five years. His world now was in Delhi, where he worked as an investment analyst, living a life of constant deadlines and traffic snarls. But here, surrounded by his childhood home’s familiar smells of pinewood and burning embers, his heart felt like it could finally breathe. And tonight, he needed that peace more than ever. Ravi sighed, his breath fogging in the chill of the room as he remembered his recent breakup. He’d been with Neha for two years, a relationship filled with promises ...

Time...the only entity of the universe that is constantly changing.  Remember when you were a child, playing in your mother's lap and your father content on seeing the ruckus? You grew up a little further, started going to a school; the first day in the school, when you saw your father leaving you behind in an unknown place, and the fear it created in your small heart. And suddenly the tears started flooding through your tiny eyes, and from nowhere small hands, as small as yours grabbed your shirt. Remember, that was the first friendship you had made in the world you had stepped into? Remember all those joys and jumps on the subsequent days when you met your newly made friend at school like every day? Remember the anxiety and sadness when this friend was absent from the class because of a flue?   You grew up a little further, and you started waiting eagerly for the summer vacations in the school. Remember the long journey in the trains, to meet your grandparents who...

Jeez, what a Lovely song this is...  The song has the voice of the female lead of the movie (Andrea Jeremiah). The other appreciable character in the movie is Fahad... This guy has come a very long long way: From this to now... A must watch for all the people out there in love...You will relate something or the other with the protagonists.

A Nice song from the Malayalam movie Neelathaamara, released recently... Sweet song, isn't? :-) And guys, you know who has sung this one? Yep Shreya Ghoshal and V. Sreekumar....Shreya, u rock! Not a word seems like it's sung by a non-mallu...Kudos to you.

Sujatha sings all the "thaaraatu" songs from her heart, and it shows...Be it "Engane Gyan Urankendu"[Deshadanam] or "Chembakapoo"[November Rain], I just love all her thaaratu songs (and of course other songs too!) And here is one of my favorite malayalam song from recent releases [Kaana Kanmani]:

Uhhh...Writing after many days...Went to kerala, for, well....so many things. It's our new home's House warming and by God's grace, my sister also got engaged and both of these important event happened on the same day, one after the other. It was like the House warming ceremony was from 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM and the Engagement ceremony (Ring exchange) was from 9:30 to 10:30 AM. Both of these events happened at the new house, and we arranged a common lunch for the guests for the events... Got lots of gifts (mostly crockeries!) for the House warming; it took me more than 1 hour to unpack all the things... ;-) Here is a photograph of the Sanctum room of the house before the ceremony. It's now full with lots of photos, and hanging lamps which is not shown here... And here is my cousin brother's creativity ....He named the title of the photograph "Aadu thoma" (All mallus invariably knows who this is right? ;-) ) He made me stand like that wearing a Lungi....ughhhh...

Jai Mata di... 9 days for the goddess....

Nice smile Sweetie Pie....God bless you, whoever you are...