Kerala sure is God's own country

I am a Bangalore boy, my parents are from Kerala. That means I inherit the best of both. An urban culture and the traditions from one of the most beautiful states in India. I have to admit that until now I have heard of many mates of mine who have been to the best places in Kerala more than I have. Many of them from Ireland , tell me about how good an experience they have had in Kerala. A place which is my native. I had to hang my head down in shame. A visit to the best places in Kerala appeared on my things to do list.

My best mate from Ireland and his newly wed wife had plans for Honeymoon, so I tossed the idea why not they visit the places they want to and come to Kerala. There my family and I can play the hosts and be the tourists ourselves.  The plans was put into play, my visit to India was rejigged to accommodate this plans. The train tickets were booked from Kasargod to Cochin and the return flights from Kochi to Bangalore was booked two months advance.

End of December, Flew to India to meet my seven month old daughter. Super excited! The weather in Kerala was at its best. A very enjoyable twenty to twenty eight degrees. No rains and just the right amount of Sun. two weeks visiting relatives flew by and the time came for the Kerala trip. 

We took the train to Cochin, which is the financial hub of Kerala. The train journey itself was very exciting because we were on the waiting list of the seat we reserved and we finally did not get it.  

We had to board the general compartment which was jam packed, found ourselves some seats and stuck to it till we reached our destination six hours later.  The views of Kerala from the windows did keep me enthralled. We got to the hotel which was just fifteen minutes taxi from the train station. We all rested and my little one took a good nap. Later in the evening, my parents, my wife, my daughter and myself headed out to check out what the city is like. There was lot of construction work going on and soon we were disinterested in exploring more. Did some generally shopping and headed back to Hotel. i was eagerly awaiting for my friend and his wife from Ireland to arrive. I sure was very glad to meet them at the hotel. Made plans for the next day sorted out the taxi for the next four days and we were all set. 

We were heading to Allepey the next day. It’s the Venice of the east. The back waters which has been the rice bowl of the rice and off late the tourist hot spot. We had rented out a house boat for twenty four hours. We were extremely lucky to have found a taxi driver who knew the whole place like the back of his hand. No asking directions, No checking out the map, No Sat nav. The pick-up point for the House boat was some kind of garage to fix boats. Did not make a good first impression, but once we stepped in through three other boats to get to the boat that was assigned to us, it was a big relief. The boat was spick and span, very comfortable three bedrooms with ensuite. There was a dining area. The deck of the boat is where we all spent most of the time absorbing the gorgeous views of the unforgettable scenery that went by. For less than €500, we had a house boat with air conditioned bedroom for each couple, inclusive of all food and the priceless location. An absolute bargain!

The boat cruised ever so gentle that we settled in and relaxed. The food served was extremely delicious. It felt like a well-cooked homemade meal. We had three crew members. Once to navigate the boat, a chef and a house (boat) keeper. We had a stopover at a local fisher man who had some super fresh catch from the backwaters. Most of them were still alive. We hopped over to the thin shoreline and bought some large prawns for less than a tenner. The chef made some fine curry out of it that everyone enjoyed. I was the only vegetarian on board who was enjoying the vegetarian dishes. 

Looking at how the locals went about their daily routine, like going to school, doing business or getting to work and back was fascinating. Children took to water like how the ducks would be at home in water. Women washing up laundry and at the other shore line women divers were diving to the bottom to pick up molluscs. It looked like every house had their own boat. It’s like how we city clickers having a car at home. We gently eased into the night. Mosquito would have been a serious menace but the crew did such a good work or putting up mosquito net all over the boat that we never had any bites. The dusk presented me with some good opportunities to capture the sunset over this beautiful landscape. Paddy fields and stream all over this place with little and large boats going about left and right. 

The following day we woke up to enjoy a great breakfast, both continental and Indian cuisine. What engaged me and my friend was the skill of a tiny little master of this watery world. The kingfisher! There were many hundreds of them, but well-spaced out on the wires and the branches. All they did was look straight down, more than forty feet down into the water below. With the patience of a saint. Suddenly, it would within the blink of an eye drop like a stone with wings closing just before entering water and out it flew with a catch! We were utterly impressed with what this little birdy was doing. Its perseverance, its eye sight, its reflex, its accuracy simply astounding. 

Our Taxi driver was there to greet us at the drop off point, we showed our appreciation to the crew and left the boat contented.  

The next stop was the Preiyar nature reserve, in the district of Idduki. The district that has one of the densest tropical forest of south India. The Preiyar reserve has several tigers and other wild creatures.

We were staying at Cardomom County. It was definitely a very upmarket place but the hospitality and the ambience was worth the price. Top notch! For the evening, the plan was to witness the traditional dance and martial arts of Kerala. All happening within a ten minute walk from the resort. "kathakali" A traditional art form means katha-Story, kali- Dance.

Essentially, its means dancing the story. it was for two hours and the first hours was with introductions to the various gestures, postures and expressions that is involved. The proof of this was in the pudding, the artist pulled up a seven year old from the crowd and just with these expressions and gestures was able to convey, complicated messages to this kid. Not for a brief few minutes, but for a fair bit of half hour. It just went to show how communicative this dance was. The full on Dance was performed which did leave me impressed , but at times lost as well since I could not understand all the gestures. 

The next show at the nearby venue was the martial art, "kallari-paiyattu" . Eight very skilled young men showed off their skills with swords, shields, spears, knives and sticks. Even if each move was planned, the speed at which it was executed was astounding. Even for our eyes it was hard to trace the speed at which this sword or stick moved through the air, forget dodging them. I would say, a slight mistake or lack of attention would cost dearly. There were several occasions where we jumped out of our seats. The crowd was definitely wooed by their performance. I was scared a couple of times because, if the stick of sword slipped out their hands, definitely it would have been a disaster. Given what the guys had to show for, with their experience, they would not have gotten it wrong. 

We retired for the night and the following day itinerary was to explore the nature reserve and some local attractions. The gates of the reserve shut down at five and opened the following day at seven. We were one amongst several others cars queueing up to enter. Looked like we were unfortunate on the particular day, since the tourists were out in several hundreds and we could not get a ticket for the boat ride or the safari. Since that flopped, we had plan B, that is to visit the tea estate. The whole district has several thousand acres of tea estates. The geography was particularly suited for tea. We asked out Taxi driver to take us to one such plantations and I could not have guessed ever, where we would end up. It’s called "Connemara" tea estate.

Yes!! Exactly the same spelling. Amused as we were, the started and it sure did have a Paddy connection. My Friend and I were looking at each other amused. Apparently in the early nineteen hundreds an Irish Engineer came over and set up this factory. It reminded him of Connemara. We, soon were enlightened with all Tea facts. First that tea is not a short shrub. It's a tree which is constantly trimmed to keep its tea leaves accessible. It’s still a very manual process where the leaves are hand-picked. Generally it’s the women folk who do this and the men get to most physical work of moving the leaves to the pickup trucks. I spoke to a couple of the women workers and they were seemed to be happy with their work. What they earn for eight days of work picking tea leaves is close to what one would pay for a cup of tea at Starbucks. It does not seem to be fair at all. The tea tree actually does flower. Green tea and the normal tea is from the same tea leaves. There are only three species of tea and all the different flavours we get at the shelves are a mix of these same tea leaves with something else. We got to see the inside of the factory and the various stages of processing. Quite fascinating, to get to see what the humble tea leaves go through to make it to my cup of tea twice a day. When asked the question, "does the tea from Connemara tea estate get to see the land where Connemara is?” He replied, "might be, packaged as Barry's tea”. That's global commerce for you. We left the place after sampling the tea.

I was not impressed and from the look on other faces. I can say they were not either. 

Spent the evening, shopping for some clothes and local sweets. Took it nice and easy at the resort. My friend and his wife enjoyed the good herbal massage offered at the resort. For the entertainment of the guests there was a dance performance arranged by the management. It was called "Barathanatyam" An ancient Indian dance form. It was performed by a male and a female artist. Quite impressive. The dance ended with the female artist performing dance while standing on the edges of a plate with a jar full of water placed on the head. Not once did she spill a drop of slip of the edge of the plate. Truly skilled. The guests were very impressed.

The following morning, it was time to head back home. It was a long five hour drive to the Airport and we had to start really early. As early as half five. My Parents and we three had to fly to Bengaluru, My friend and his wife had to fly to Ahmedabad, in Gujarat. We were really very grateful to Sumesh our taxi driver, who did a splendid job in getting us to places, in time and even making arrangements for us at different venues. We boarded our respective planes while the beautiful memories of this sweet little trip kept replaying in my head over and over again.  

Beautiful Barcelona

Traveling for me had taken a back seat the past year or so. Definitely priorities change, so does the plans. The past few weeks, since August I kind of get to relive the bachelor days. My wife and kid back in India gave me plenty of time for myself. The weather gods of Ireland when are in a good mood, I make the most of it by Cycling or running. Winter is imminent and this good weather won’t last, So time to put the travellers hat back on. It was an impulsive decision looks at the cities I would like to visit and checked which of those destinations had the cheapest air fare. That was about it. From "what do I do four weekends from now?" to "booking done" was all over in mere thirty minutes. 

Barcelona it is, my best buddy had been there before. He seemed to have a good time there, so why not! Departure at the wee hours on twentieth of Friday and back by midnight of Monday. Three days and two nights. Now I had five weeks to look forward to this weekend. Never even bothered to make any plan as to what I must do when I get there. The previous evening of the departure is when I actually sort the tickets, Direction to the hotel and drafted a rough plan as to places to visit while I was there. 

Off I go!

On the very approach to the "El Prat" airport looking outside the window I could sense that I am in for some treat. The geography is vastly different to where I live. There are hills and valleys, lots of lush greenery. Streams and rivers cut the landscape dotted with small lakes all over. 

The weather was sunny and balmy as I got out and realised there was no need of a jacket here. It was an enjoyable seventeen degrees. The first hour of being in a foreign county is always anxious. That's due to the language barrier.  I was trying hard to figure out the stop I had to get off at. By the time I could understand where the name of each stop is mentioned, I had missed mine. But I was in good company of another newbie to Barcelona. He was Spanish. He looked at me clutching me to a print out and trying to look out at every stop. He assured me. " I am lost too" . That was comforting to me. He said, the bus heads to the El Spanya main station and we can figure out where ever we wanted to go from there. Kind soul he is. At the main station, not only could I figure out where I needed to get to, but also surprised that three days of Metro and Bus unlimited ticket is just twenty euros. No brainier!. Got off at the stop and to the hotel I had booked my stay. The receptionist was struggling at English but she more than made up for the the lack of easy communication by being extremely helpful. She was being even apologetic about it. I said, your intention to help a tourist like me is more than what any one new to town can ask for. 

By eleven I was up and about the town. The Hotel was right besides a massive square called fontella. The whole square was carpeted with hundreds  of pigeon. Opposite was the Hop on and Hop off  service. Given the weather was so good, I wasn't surprised that I had to queue up to buy a ticket to get on this bus. It had three routes, Red blue and green and a ticket would last two days to allow me to hop on to any of the routes as many number of times I liked .  Sounded Perfect !. 

Plan was to get on to this tour bus that day on all routes and make note of all the places that would interest me. Got on to the bus and each round trip would take more than an hour.  

On the map, noted down the stops that I wanted to get off and finished both the routes. (Green route was not in service) It was evening and Barcelona city centre does not have one high street, it has several. I went about exploring. In light of the Paris attacks the city was definitely on high alert. Police was deployed everywhere. I definitely did not look like a local and I definitely I got plenty of glances. I don't mind that. I, in fact admire them for the tough job that they have ahead. The city was not sparsely populated in anyway. Hundreds of thousands of people, mostly tourists flocked the streets. On the Red route, I got off at a stop atop Montjuïc. It was due to the mention of a cable car. Got into one which stopped at a castle at the top of the Mountain.

The castle had few cannons but nothing much to offer. What it had in abundance was a view. We could see for hundreds of kilometres across the ocean horizon on one side. The other side had the entire city in full view. That is why this has to be the most strategic location for any castle with big BIG guns! The port below was bustling so was the city on the other side.

The evening of the first day, wandered into the market area where local artisans had lot to exhibit. Meandering into the packed streets, I ended up at the farmers market. It was a good find by me. The dry fruits, Chocolates, sea food shops were a delight to see. Even my camera would have been happy.

it was hard to find any good vegetarian food, so had to settle for some salad and fruits and ended my day. I slept like a log.

The following morning, headed out by nine straight to the bus.  Few observations I made during the day tour was, First, the selfie sticks domination. Every tourist had one. Never seen such an invasion of a weird apparatus before on such scale.  Second observation was that Catalans (Barcelona a.k.a Cataluña ) did not take to bicycles as other cities, such as Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam or London has taken to. It has to be because of the gradients all over the city. Barcelona a is locked by two hills on either sides and sea on the other side, so the only flat transport surface is by the sea coast.Third was few of the high streets were lined with orange trees, with real oranges hanging off its branches. Not few, but several!! 

My first stop was the iconic "Sagrada Familia” The presence of such a massive cathedral dwarfed every other structure around it. I was fascinated by the rear facade, which was still under construction.

The sculptures did not looks like from a by gone ear. It had a more modern touch to it. Apparently the construction of this land mark has been going on for centuries. It’s all the contribution of the visitors that keeps the work going on. After purchasing the ticket I realised that I was at the rear entrance. Had to walk around to get to the front entrance. Awe struck is an understatement. It was beautiful the work was from a bygone era. Standing in front of this massive structure and trying to look at the top of the tower gave me a neck ache. The security was tight and as part of a "Random" check I was patted down and bags all checked twice. I always knew that I wear a look of a thief or someone who is up to some mischief. I don't blame them for it, because my default look would not inspire confidence to any security personnel. The inside was surprisingly not as large as what it looked from outside. Pictures would speak well than what I can ever describe.

Headed out and the next stop was Mount Tibidabo.  Anything to do with scaling heights, I am there. A bus took us to the stop where we get the "Funicular”. I kept thinking Funicular was the name of the place, but actually it means a cable car. There for the first time I witnessed a train coach designed at an angle. It has stairs in it. Hopped on to it, for some spectacular views. At the top of Mount Tibidabo it gave me the perspective from the opposite end to what I enjoyed the day before from Montjuïc. There was a theme park at the op and two church. From here we could see the TV tower, a beautiful structure in itself designed by Sir Norman Foster. Fast winds up there made sure I did not hag about for long. The view from the church showed that the city of Barcelona had lot of fauna behind these mountains. For the residents of this city what a fabulous opportunity to explore the wilderness. 

Back on the bus after the decent straight to Camp Nou. I admit, that I am not much into football, but I always had an interest into what these venues would look like. The power for such a structure to entice more than one hundred thousand people in this case is something not to be noticed. FC Barcelona stadium is the largest in Europe. Once I was in, I was gently being introduced to what this place is all about. This is the place where great players are from. Ronaldino, Messi, Piqué are to name a few. 

A century old club this one had a lot of exhibits. The first cup dating all the way from 1902. The audio visual room was also well equipped. I found myself spending half hour in front of a touch interactive massive screen where one could pull up the video clips of the goals scored. Very entertaining it was. Had a tour of the massive stadium at the visitor level, from the directors’ box level and also from the dugout. Spectacular!  I was keen on buying some merchandise, but then feared from who I would put off, if they had known. First of all I am not a fan boy. 

Day two was drawing to an end. The monastery and the 1980's industrial museum did not excite me but I had one more place of interest. The "Barcelona Cathedral" It was a historic monument from the seventeen hundreds. The place was so busy that I had to queue up for forty five minutes. But it was worth it. What makes me wonder is what these kind of ancient structures have witnessed. The times they have been through and the millions of people who would have gone in and out of the doors and an exponential numbers of prayers being rendered here. 

I walked back to the square, walking around was a good way to explore. Spent the dusk at the fontella square clicking away pictures of the colourful fountains. Grabbed something to eat as well as some snacks and retired to the hotel. 

Day three, the final day.Checked out at nine, but left my luggage and straight to the history museum. Doors open at half nine and I was at the station Closest to the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya by Nine. The museum was once the place of the kings and what a place it was. Could not be at a better location. Half way up the Montjuïc. Overlooking the city and the grand entrance. A sports event was ongoing and I was lucky enough to witness the lead runner come up. ten kilometers in thirty minutes. Made a note to myslf, next time I visit some place I must try to participate in such events. Such events will hold the memory longer than pictures for me. The History museum had several  sections and it took em three hours just to get around the place. Not as massive as the museum at London or Amsterdam, but much bigger than the one at Dublin . The museum also had a theatre within it which was so grand that it looked straight of out movies. The place was being set up for most probably a musical concert of some kind.

After the tour, I let myself down the stairs to the bottom of the hill. The Barcelona arena was there, and I got to the top of that as well and had a look at the city and the park. Just adding another perspective.

Later that day, I spent walking around the harbour side, having some food, enjoying the music that was being played and the sun. It was long walk to the beach side and enjoyed the view. The surfers were making most of the waves and the clear water. 

What way way to relax and end my tour, i thought to myself. the whole walk way was lined with nothing but restaurants. For the sea food lovers this place is a heaven. Not a vegetarian like me. Spoilt for choices were the tourists. I walked back to the hotel, took my luggage and headed to the square to just see the people with their kids have a good time. Chatted up with a French national who was also a tourist like me and that drew us close to the departure time. Headed to the airport and jumped into the quarter past nine plane bidding goodbye to the city that offered such , good weather, sun and food not to mention fantastic places to visit. I dozed off as soon I was in the seat. Touch down at Dublin at mid night, out of the door the first sight was screen. It mentioned the weather condition of Dublin. It read "Dublin 0 degrees with spells of rain" !! Welcome to reality I told myself!

Illusory Red Balloons

"What is with this four hour mark that seems to move further away the more harder you try to get close to it ? " This is a question that I have been asking myself the past few weeks. I am sure it will stop once 2016 begins and I get my trainers back on. But this four hour mark still eludes me.
The Dublin 2015 Marathon took place over the bank holiday weekend on 26th of October.
Like the other years gone by, training was in place. I kept upping the ante every weekend after another so that the four hour mark is achievable. . Talking about training, its a highly questionable topic amidst my mates. That is because the training plan, is what I make of it, not something that is downloaded. I know better half of my consciousness is telling  me that, training is something that is a highly regimented affair. By the book, come rain, sun or snow, it has to be adhered to. That is what the training plan that many sites offer. It makes so accommodation for really bad weather, family affairs, or work load at office. Most important of all , there is no options to key in for Wife's mood.  On the other had, the stubborn consciousness of mine is thinking, that enjoy the run but not at the cost of your family time, or your own R and R time.
This year, as usual I stuck to my own training plan. that is start running early June, twice a week when its summer and once a week by end of August. Only target is do longer distances each week and slightly better time each of the weeks. Plain and simple. Longer and a little faster. Its not that hard not to follow or complicated to miss it.
The weather this year has been very good. we had very good summer, started off the year with a ten kilometer race at phoenix park which was decent. The race where my pregnant wife was at the finish line to welcome me. Weekend after weekend, the running distance kept getting longer and it was done in better time as well. That was good confidence booster for me. I did not want to break that routine so much so, that I even took trainers and sports watch on my visit to India. I did a good thirteen kilometer run from my little farm house in Kerala to the house of my Mrs. It was a surprise to all of them, because no one else has ever pulled off such a stunt there. The only occasion people in the country side have seen a man running is, if he was chased by police or Dogs or had an emergency loo situation.  Headed out at half six, Few dogs chased me, but I out ran them. people were giving me weird looks. My cousin who was driving along that route, stopped by to offer me a lift "while I was running" , bless him.

Back to Dublin by first week of September and the running continued. Since my wife and Daughter did not fly back with me, that meant I had lot of time on weekends to get this running going. I had also jumped into the cycling sport and kept that going on weekdays and running on weekends.
The running distances, were easily twenty kilometer plus on the final eight weeks. I was pretty confident and on the penultimate week of the race I ran for thirty two kilometer in three hour five minutes. I thought to myself, this is good time and all I had was another ten kilometer, so getting to the four hour mark should definitely be possible, if not easy. The confidence in me was really strong, and I kept telling myself that I have done a good job training and the set goal was very achievable.

The race pack was picked up from RDS next door.  There were lot of participants this time, I could tell. The crowd was huge. fifteen thousand runners this year which is a record in the Dublin Marathon history.  This was the thirty seventh Dublin Marathon .There was lots of tips and advice that I picked up from the organizers there. I had even made note of the colour of the four hour pace keeper balloons. It was RED.
The forecast on the race day was not great for folks who wanted to be around the race route to cheer the runners, but speaking for myself the weather was just perfect. Just what I wanted. Overcast sky, and the fine misty rain.
I cycled to the start line. Parked it in a bad location, in terms of getting back to after the race. On route I saw the twenty six mile marker tied to the light pole. I had a good look at it and even touched it, thinking it might being be good luck. Emptied by bladder one last time and took my place in the green wave. Five minutes before we started moving, I consumed a banana got rid of the extra layer I was wearing and off we went. The enthusiasm in the air was palpable. The dark skies made no difference to the moods of the thousands. All running with a smile, because now, there is no looking back. The route was slightly modified this time. In my opinion this was the best course so far in all these years. The long run from Pheonix park from end to end and loop back into the park was one of the best. It was a steady climb but very good. the ten kilometer mark came up there. My pace the first 10K was off by a couple of minutes  because, it was all the crowd that was slowing me down. The second 10K was on target. The runners had thinned out. The cloudy skies made sure that I was not dehydrating fast and the rain kept the face washed from the sweaty salts. The organizers had made sure to have water stations and lucozade stations well spaced out.
Most of the course, I was sticking with the four hour pace keepers. That means that at the thirty two kilometer mark I was at three hour mark and along side the pace keepers. That meant it was all going as per plan. Hurray!! Just another ten kilometer

Now the rest of it is on the record and it speaks for itself. My legs were not hurting but my energy levels were going down. I saw the pace keepers going further and further away by the kilometer. Finally the balloons were like a red dot to me. My intake of Gels along with sipping of water was not helping me much. It was a mental battle within myself, one saying "don't push yourself you are fine". My eyes were on my heart rate and I did not want to let that exceed 185 bpm at any point. I thought letting it cross that zone will cause damage and might become extremely tired to get to the finish line. Yes, that was me thinking all of that in the last ten kilometer of the race.
Every time the heart rate reached 185 I would slow down to a brisk walk to get the rate back to 165, then I would pick up again. This killed the good pace I was maintaining. the last five kilometer was on familiar ground for me. A right from N11 into Nutely lane followed  by Merrion road. Latter being the most favorite road of mine. This time, the course was straight down Merrion road towards Merrion Square. On that road is when the wretched green balloons, four hour ten minute pace keeping balloons went past me. I definitely had missed the target time. Crossed the finish line, thanking the gods above, who saw to it that I finished it.
My energy levels was not at zero, rested there for a bit, collected my medal and T shirt. The thing that I wanted the most out of this race. All that effort and sweat and one pair of trainers for that shiny piece of Metal.

Collected goodie bag which had one of the worst ever made cakes in it. It felt like I had shoved in a hand full of sand into my mouth. The only downer for me in the entire event organisation. The rest of all it was arranged in a splendid fashion. No complaints, what so ever except for that horrible cake.
My good mate, Mihir and Kate were there to greet at the meeting point. It was definitely encouraging to have some one there to congratulate and give you a hug.  Getting back to my bike which was on the other side of the race was a nightmare. Tried persuading the gardas, but no joy there. Got to my bike some how and cycled back home.
Stuffed myself with loads of food and had a long nap, only to wake up thinking of race again. Only consolation to myself was I fished the race few minutes better than the 2014 run. So, that's not too bad. Switched on my laptop and looked at the marathon training plan I had downloaded earlier the year.
Then said to myself " Bloody Red Balloons, I will get you next year"

One Day of being the Best

I am not the best, definitely not. But for one day I was known as the best man. The odds of me having the honour  of being the best man to my best mates wedding is extremely rare. I do not think I am going to get another chance in this life time. I say so , because back home in Hindu weddings there is no concept of "best man" and I do not have much Christian friends in India.
The build up to this special day , which is the twenty seventh of June has been coming since quite a while. Ever since my Best mate proposed to the love of his life, the planning had kicked off.

Let me throw some light on Mihir, the man of the hour. My Acquaintance with him started  at work. From then on it grew to being friends, later good friends then finally leading to flat mates. I refer to him as Mihir bhai. Many here think I call out to him as Mihir 'boy'.  Its kind of true since he is a boy at heart. A person where the age has never effected his attitude to look for fun or being positive at everything. That's Mihir. There are many life lessons that I have learnt from Mihir and I cherish each one of them. At one point in everyone life one realises there is one another friend whom you are going to stay in touch with, till the end of life. Mihir falls into that bracket for me.

Back to the planning. Ever since the proposal to Kate was done we all knew that Mihir totally deserved one hell of a stag party . He's of the type who would make any stag party he attends to come to life. But Mihir also is an accountant by academics, so he likes everything organised. That is when Mihir ask three of his best buddies to be his Best men, I am lucky to be one of them. He started planing what he wanted for his own Stag. I had my reservations with that approach. I have met Bekir Andrews, Mihir's university buddy before so I engaged with him directly keeping Mihir out of the loop for the Stag trip planning. Mihir provided us with the contact details of his friends. We took up one suggestion of his, which is the location. It is not one of the places to be known as Stag heaven, but we did accept since it was a sensible place. Milton Keynes. Mihir had friends from Dublin,
Birmingham, London and Spain. MK seemed more convenient . Bekir a.k.a Becks was very good at planning and we got rolling. Since Mihir was a out door-sy person we decided to head to a GO-Ape out door adventure place, then followed by bowling fun and then the inevitable yet the secondary highlight (though some think this is the primary highlight ) of the day, the pub crawl!
June the 7th was the date for the Stag. The stag list was long,  as below

Mihir Patel, Nadeem Din, Kumaswamy Parthipan, Bekir Andrews, Anthony Cannon, Simon Walker
Lee Ali, Paul Green, Nick Moon, Maurice McNamara, Alan O'Reilly, Shane J Kelleher, David T Phelan, Richard G Meikle, Lee Dando, Brian Clearly and me.

The dublin folks took the early morning flight to meet the rest of the boys at MK, Have some food and the head to the adventure spot.  The fun we had there could not be expressed in words, Not even pictures were enough only a video could do that . I will let the video speak for itself.


Some were wrecked with all this physical activity, few petrified and some mortified, But the star of the day Mihir was like an eight year old left unleashed! Mission accomplished !! Nad, Becks and Myself wanted just that. With deformed rear ends, bruised limbs and whip lashes we Headed back to hotel. After a quick shower we headed to the bowling arena. Becks was running a tight schedule where many doubted if we would hit all the spots on time, but none the less we made sure everything went by plan. After the bowling action, we had dinner and then hit the pubs. I had too many shots to remember and too many beers to count. The whole evening is a blur to me. Mihir seemed to like unstoppable. He could go on and on. I on the other hand was a total mess. My buddy Maurice made sure I got back to the hotel, for which I will be grateful.
Following morning, it was time to say good bye to all after a quick breakfast. All went back with the assurance that we will all meet up once again on the 26 th of June.

Mihir and Kate were extremely busy in arranging for the wedding. The venue was Dublin's finest place  for a wedding. The iconic Clontaraf castle was where the ceremony was at. Not too many days left and Mihir bhai was getting the guest list and rooms booked for guests who travelled afar. Becks , Nad and myself had the privilege of the presenting the Best man speech. We were busy with that and the number of times it went back and forth for the revisions they have had is innumerable. We had the option to use a projector at the venue and we went for it. I very secretively spoke to Mihir bhai's dad and got him to send me photographs of old photographs of Mihir bhai from the Album they had in London. I had seen those pictures when I was over and I had a rough idea what I wanted.
Writing up a speech about the person whom you know quite well is not tough. Just the few pictures and all the past conversation I have had with Mihir bhai and his parents were like fine thread to me which weaved itself into a fine fabric to me. With the deck ready and the speech timed I was almost ready.
I went out shopping for myself some new shoes, socks and other bits and bobs. One shiny cuff-links that spelt the obvious "BEST MAN" was also a part of my shopping list. I know that I could not use them on any other day other than this one day and it was all worth it.
I had copies of the proceedings of the day, Memorised the timing schedule of sequence of events.

Most of Mihir bhai's family were arriving the day period to the wedding day. The tradition of "pheri" was held at the castle. The staff at the castle were kind to accommodate. I finished work early and headed straight to castle. It was indeed a great pleasure to meet Mihir bhai;s parents. They are the sweetest ever and the affection they have shown me all these years is much like my own parents to me. I wanted to make sure they were comfortable. Few of the other guests who were also at the stag arrived and it was a joy to meet their other halves . All of the lads seemed to he every happy to be there. We had dinner and the activity for the evening began. Mihir bhai, came well prepared to the hall in shorts on Tee's It was going to be messy. Mihir bhai's mu and all his aunts and cousins gathered around him and he was smothered with fine paste of sandalwood. A handsome man he is, and this is to make him even better. Kate's parents were witnessing this and I am sure they were surprised. But such well spirited folks they are that they jumped into the party as well and gave Mihir bhai a good dollop of the paste on his Belly. ( An unusual place to have it applied ).

The big day had finally arrived. Mihir bhai came around to pick me up and we went to the Venue. My wife and my Little one would join me later. We had the time to go through the schedule, the guest list, the Venue and got ourselves familiarised with the different service providers of the day, just so that they have point of contact.

It was time for us to get ready. This is the point when you realise the show is now on!!. We boys got into a room and took our fresh suits and finely polished new shoes out. The sparkling cuff-links out of the small box. Kate had given each of a tie to match with what the bride's maid were wearing. Mihir bhai was looking for a million dollars and his enthusiasm was contagious. We we aware Kate is going to look like a billion dollars getting ready upstairs.  We had to make sure Mihir bhai at least looked like a couple of million. That he sure did. The custom cuff-link and the suit with the picture of Kate's favourite cat coco was put on. All the anxiousness and enthusiasm filled the room with high spirits.

 It was time for the civil ceremony, The ambience of the room was fantastic. With all the proceedings going really smoothly and the words spoken there definitely resonating with most of us few of us emotional. I had the privilege of being the witness to the wedding.

Now that Mihir bhai were legally, officially husband and wife it was time to celebrate. As the new couple walked out the guests all got to throw some confetti  which was fun and a great photo op. Ever one headed out and the photographer did a great job of taking a group shot. Kate and Mihir went with the photographer to take more shots. Becks, Nad and myself were busy to get our laptops hooked up to the projector. Made sure that the food was all ready. There were varied dietary requirements and ensured that was all taken care off.

We made the announcement to all the guests to come into the dining hall.  The guest names and their respective table names were put on display on a beautiful mirror. The hall was beautiful with lot of attention to detail for each table, the flowers at each table, the chairs well spaced. The whole ambience of the room was staged quite suits for such a wonderful occasion.

It was time to make the speech. Mihir bhai started off and made quite an interesting presentation with all animations , more importantly it reflected how much he loved Kate and the journey they had been through the past couple of years. Kate actually stole the best flat mate I have ever had, but I am glad my flat mate found a soul mate. Becks presented his share of the speech elaborating about Mihir's University life. The wild person he was , was pictorially well laid out for the one hundred plus guests to see. Nad followed Becks and he did draw an even better picture .
The last person to finish off the speech was me and even If I had know him the past seven years, it always felt like I had known Mihir bhai longer. His family, were also close to me. I decided to share how Mihir's childhood was and how much a family person he was. Kate was a person on the same lines of Mihir and it was evident that they made a great match. My speech drew to an end and it was time for a wonderful dinner. My Wife and Daughter had joined me at the table. We had an awesome meal, I even went for two rounds of desert.
At the corner of the room stood a beautiful cake which had to be cut. Mihir and Kate rightfully did the honour and I must admit it was one of the best pastry I have had, I helped myself with some twice!
The DJ meanwhile was spinning some really nice tracks. Few of the numbers on the list were the Bollywood time recommended by Mihir bhai. That got going most of the Indian crowd. The dance floor, lets say had not an inch to be spared. My wife , how lets say is two left foot was also pulled into the dance floor by Kates dad. He got her moving and it looked like for once she enjoyed dancing. It was fun and honestly a joy to watch everyone enjoy. Young little 4 year old to seventy year old seniors like. For a moment everyone seemed to be enjoying like the lucky four year old.
That's how I like to remember this day of mine. A day that brought so much of joy to so many, A day that made me feel special because It was such an honour to have a important place on a one of the most significant milestone of my brother. A day that gave me a sister in law in Dublin.

Since then every morning , as I get ready to go to work, I have the cuff-link on the shelf next to the shirt. I give it a look and walk away with a smile. I cherish that day. The day I had the title of being the best, for my best "bhai".

Top of the World

This was an unintentional trip yet it was fantastic given to the fact that time spent was less than twenty four hours. It also holds as the shortest visit I have made to any city as a tourist.  My stop over on the return leg of India trip was in Dubai. Dubai is renowned to have a significant migrant population as compared to the local. Within that migrant population a high percentage of them are from the native State where my parents hail from. The state of Kerala, also known as "god's own country". It does not come as a surprise that very many of my relatives live there. In the past five years many of my first cousins have also moved to Dubai.
Now that I am an Irish man, its far easier for me to visit quite a few countries. Using this stop over when I am flying back my self seemed like a good idea. Checked with my cousins if they can accommodate me and the plan was set. Few days before heading to Dubai from Bangalore, I was wondering what Could I do for less than one day there, and which is the most effective way to see most of the city. Now that its common knowledge that the tallest man made structure is in Dubai as of the year 2015, it seemed to be the best option. Looked up , on how to get ticket. Checked with my cousins if they can join me. Booked tickets for all of us and all I had to do now is get into the Plane.
It was hard bidding good bye to my family especially my little one. Even the thought of visiting Dubai was not enough to excite me over the thought that my next few months in Dublin will be lonely.
Off from Bengaluru international airport and Dubai is a short three hours flight away. Reached there by midnight. My cousin brother, Mani was waiting outside to pick me up. The first impression I remember was the punch in my face by the heat as soon as I stepped out of the Arrival gate. Extremely hot! It was the middle of the night and the temperature was forty degrees. My brother, got me into his car and turned on the AC to full blast and went about paying the parking fee. Apparently, sitting inside an idle car with doors and windows shut will kill anyone. I was more than delighted to see him. He is the second oldest after me in my first circle of eighteen cousins on my mother's side.
He was driving me to my other cousin's apartment where he and his wife lives. The city at night looked busy with cars zipping on the roads, My cousin was telling me, missing one single exit means an extra twenty minutes on the road and he did just that. We got to the apartment by half past twelve. My sister in law and brother greeted us and offered some food. We had the usual family chit chat going on for a bit and then hit the bed. The cousin , Jitin, who I was staying with is the third oldest in the group.
Slept like a log, must be due to the heat only to realise in the morning that the whole apartment block is fully, centrally air conditioned. Like how in Dublin, some apartments have heating as part of the rent, there they have air conditioning system. My cousin was tip toeing in the morning not to disturb me to let himself out to head to office. My sister in law, Uthara whom I had briefly met just once before had prepared some fine Indian breakfast. My cousin Mani had taken a day off work and he came around to pick me up by ten. meanwhile Uthara and I got to see some family photographs and shared stories about my daughter and how the whole experience was for me off being a father.
My brother had some plans of showing me few places and he set the schedule. The quickest way to get to Burj Khalifa was by train, so we parked the car at the Metro station and took the train. The whole infrastructure was spic and span. While in the train, I noticed that not a soul was walking on the pavements or in the park benches. The sprinklers in the park were full on, still not a person in sight. That is what heat does. It was forty two degrees. People either inside buildings or inside cars. For all those blue collard workers, it must be such a tough life. Its a rule, that no outdoor work will be done during the peak noon hours.
In twenty minutes we got to the Dubai mall. This Mall connects to the tower. It was quite a long walk in spite of many moving walkways within. Took around fifteen minutes to get to the reception. flashed my booking ticket and there we were, the three of us to get to the top of the tallest tower. one hundred and forty five floors. The highest one can go to is one hundred and sixty five floors, but for that it will cost me an arm and a leg. Its not that like there is a tree branch at floor 145 that will block my view so, floor 145 was fine with us.

We were shown our way, by not one , but at least a dozen well dressed members of staff. By the time we were waiting for the lift we were given some briefing about the height and other statistics. One point mentioned was that the lift takes one minute to get to floor 145. I did not believe her one bit. Its impossible! The building is one kilometer tall, so imagine going up at sixty kilometers per hour. 60 kmps is actually understating, because the lift cannot hit 60 on the word go. So for it to average that sixty kilometers in one minute, it has to hit at least ninety kilometers per hour. This was all the math that was going on in my head. I asked my sister in law to video the whole thing. I had the stop watch on my phone set to zero. The lift had a dark ambience with some fancy lighting effects inside. There was music played. It did not actually it feel like getting into lift, it indeed felt like getting into a theater.  Honestly all three of us were giggling like a bunch of girls. As the doors shut, we hardly realised it was moving. Looking at the display inside the number initially incremented at a very slow fashion, and I was thinking we are never going to make it to the top in one minute at this pace. But then it ever so gradually sped up at a feverish rate. We could have held a glass of water in a tumbler and would not notice a single ripple on the surface I bet you not! The most obvious observation in that one minute was our ears kept getting blocked. Every time we yawned to get rid of the block, it blocked again. Floor numbers kept ticking away as fast as one can count numbers. By floor one hundred, it decelerated at the same rate it accelerated. Engineering at its best! There is no other way to describe that single one minute of experience in the list. In total awe we were to look at the stop watch at one minute.

There we were at the top of the highest man made structure. lucky we were that it was a clear sky with so sand storms. I definitely was not expecting a view like what I get from my home for most of the year. ( Cloudy and rainy ). Spectacular is one adjective. For hundreds of kilometers it was clear view. My brother knows the city like the back of his hand. He pointed out most of the landmarks of the city. The cars looked like ants crawling up the beaten path. The people were very hard to notice. If one peered really hard, we can notice dots moving and that would be the people. There was an open viewing area and we could see all of the city. We could see tall builds at oen direction, each one with an inspiring architecture. The view from an other end showed the endless crests and troughs of the sand dunes. The origin of the city. The third view offered the magnificent blue sea extending into the horizon. What better way to check out Dubai in the most effective way.  Man has truly conquered nature, amidst the sea and the fiery hot sand he has created a heaven with parks and hundreds of trees. Sprawling pools and water fountains all over. Bloody Impressive at the resolve of those visionaries and engineers who set out to build this city.
The staff were so courteous  , that they walked up to us and asked us not to hurry and take as long as we would like to be up there to enjoy the magnificent views. My sister law the charming person she is, very much into selfies. I joined her and indulged myself into selfies. That has to be the first selfie that I ever took.

We were allowed to take the stairs to floor one hundred and forty six. There was an exhibit of the history of the building and pointers to the various landmarks of Dubai. As any other tourist hot stop , a gift shop as well. We were also reminded that this is the same place where Tom Cruise  performed the stunt himself by hanging outside the windows for "mission impossible". The three of us would have spent a little more than an hour absorbing all the views and the trivia.
We decided to make it way down at twelve, since I had the four O'clock flight to Dublin. The one minute way down , did not fail to impress on the way down as well. One the way out there was scale models of the building in construction at various stages.  Mani, had other ideas of showing me the displays within the mall. There was one large aquarium. Even the famous London aquarium is dwarfed by this one. Three storeys high and more than a hundred feet.

It was mesmerising to see the shoals of fishes of all different shapes and sizes swim by. He also took me to a Dinosaur exhibit. He knows what I like to see. It was not a mock up of a Dino bone, its the real one hundred and fifty million year old Dino bone. its not a moulded piece.  This was a teenage Dino, if fully grown, it would have been twice this size. Now its 80 Feet long. The Dubai mall by itself was another massive structure with beautifully decorated domes. There were more than one such domes to be amazed at.  It occupies a space more than fifty foot ball fields. The tallest building in the world to one of the largest shopping mall in a single day. How about that!

It was almost close to two PM by now and I had to kill the idea of my brother treating me for lunch at one of his favourite restaurant. we hurried back to the flat. Lovely Uthara made sure that i don't get on to a plane hungry, so packed some food for me. Mani dropped be at the Emirates terminal. I did not even have time to say a proper good bye to both of them, but indeed i owe this whole Dubai experience to them. Every minute of it. With just thirty minutes to spare I was at the departure gates.

Now if some one asks me have you seen all of Dubai in under a day, I can say with confidence "I saw all of Dubai in under an hour and I am going back for more"

Life creation is a Life Changer

One can travel to many places, have many experiences. Travel to the same place and relive those experiences but in a man’s life there is one such experience that comes just once and the first time experience stays, always. 

It was somewhere in the month of august that our GP gave us the great news. The news meant a lot of things, none of them worrisome. We were warned that our free bird like life style is going to change, yet the news of a new arrival could not dampen our joyful mood.  Heading to cinema every other weekend, Checking out different restaurants, frequent shopping spree all had to go out the window. Not for ever, but at least the initial few years.  It sounds like a major hit to the way me and my Mrs lived our three years together here in Dublin. Life has to move on and having to share all what we have learned and earned with our offspring was indeed a good direction to go towards.

Broccoli and Brussels sprouts instead of making rare guest appearances in our dinner menu, started being a regular.  Either of them were not something we enjoyed, but I had to force my good wife to have them. Pint glass full of Fresh fruit juices and many more additions were made to the menu. Internet advises on what to have and what not to have were contradictory, and the conclusions derived from those site were again contradicting with the opinions from my mother and my mother in law. So, what was right could just have been a guess.

Antenatal classes; that’s an interesting experience. We had to go for six of them at the National Maternity Hospital. The so called NMH website celebrity was our facilitator and she was the most cheerful person I have ever known. In her late fifties she explained everything to the class in comic way which just put us at ease. When I say, everything, I mean absolutely everything that one had to know about having a baby. If that class was conducted in a more “death by PowerPoint “fashion, I am sure many expecting parents would have backed out of the whole process. That is because, the complications and the challenges of this so called natural process of a female human body can go extreme. SCARY! . The bump being to grow, Ashitha began to walk slower and in an awkward manner. She gained weight by a whopping fourteen kilos.  Weekly check-ups at the GP and the Hospital was a great sense of assurance that everything was in order. One does not want any surprises in this nine month. Everything by the book is exactly what we needed.

 We had the option to know if we were going to have by or girl, but we took a decision to not know. This is one Surprise that we wanted seconds after birth. Why stereotype girls to pink and boys to blue. Secretly in both our hearts we wanted a girl. Since the very first day Ashitha and I always referred to the person inside the bump as a girl. We even, just listed names of girls, but not boys. As we drew closer to the ninth month the bump was moving. It looked like something crawling from underneath the skin. It made my skin crawl, but there is no denying that it reminded me of the Aliens movie. In this case, it was not an Alien.  We had the shopping list, and we had to keep the standby luggage ready. The vests, socks, caps were all white and yellow. All Neutral colours.

April the 27^th was the due date and given that My Mrs and I were first time parents our confidence level was not that high. With no family or relatives around my wife was a bit nervous. There is one rule about a nervous pregnant woman. “Always put her at ease”. I request for my mother in law and my sister to assist us in this highly anxious period. Sent over the required documents and booked their tickets to fly over to Ireland. It was a first time flying for my mother in law and first time to Dublin to my sister. They arrived on 21^st and it was a full house. A full house has its own pros and cons.  What mattered the most was that my wife was very glad that her mother was around. I was glad that my sister was around.  Ashitha being a very hospitable host with a full belly took them around to show the beach and shopping center.  That was exactly the right excuse for the baby to come out.

On the 23^rd the pains began. Thanks to the classes I knew exactly what to look for. It has to five minute interval and ninety second pain. But on the evening of 23^rd it was fifteen minute interval and forty second pain. Since the water hadn’t broke we went to the hospital, a quick check up and Ashitha was surely entering labor. Since we lived 5 minute drive from hospital we had to go back.  It was almost like a rehearsal to how to get to the hospital. Poor Ashitha did not sleep well and the pain only kept getting sharper. There is nothing anyone else could do, but only be with her and support her. By the time the clock hit eleven and at the fiftieth attempt of timing Ashitha’s pain we finally hit the Five minute interval. It was show time!

In five minutes we got to the hospital, straight to the labour room. The midwife checked and the update is, the baby is all set to come out. Midwife broke the water and took us to the labour room. My sister and mother in law were waiting at the room outside. Unlike India, here the spouse or the mother must accompany during labour. We were provided with birthing stool. All the learning from the Antenatal classes came in handy. How to breathe, how to use the birthing stool, what other gentle exercise can be done to manage all the pain. I can definitely say that it was a very exhausting experience for Ashitha. All I could do by being on her side was be a good moral support. Partners do not have this easy. Its, if not as such a painful experience what the wife is going through, it’s definitely demanding experience.  We had midwife Niahm, Emily and Sheeba with us in the room. Midwife Sheeba was in charge. I can picture her to a football coach, yelling out loud and clear with instructions and directions to the players. That’s exactly what she did, and she was bloody good at doing that the four hours we were in the room. The baby’s heart rate and Wife’s BP was checked every fifteen minutes. The duty consultant of the day walked into the room and left the room at the same pave he came in after going through the report. Apparently, his expertise is not required when things are going by the book. At twenty to Three, finally we could all see the crowning moment. A very hairy crown at that. My eye swelled up, while there was lot of screaming going on in the room. Not much by Ashitha, but by the midwife. I must admit, she outperformed at that situation beyond my wildest expectation. Few minutes later the head showed up, then later at nine minutes to four on a beautiful Friday, there she was. My precious! Our precious! The midwives were laughing at me, since I was the only one crying in the room with joy and Ashitha was exuding confidence after the harrowing experience.

The little one was covered in goo! She looked tired as well like the mother. With the cord still connected she rested on mom for a while. It was an “aaaawwwww” moment.  Very heart touching. Mother and daughter looked like they were meant to be together. I clicked few pictures. I then ran out to break the news to my eagerly awaiting sister and mother in law. I ran back into the room and I was given the opportunity to free the baby into the world. The chord was clipped at two ends and I cut the chord. It was quite a tough one. I had to give it three go’s before it cut off. The baby was subject to the initial checks . She was weighed and to all our surprise she was 3950 grams. For an Asian baby that was quite good. She was seventeen inches tall as well.

I am now the father of a gorgeous little girl. I am above Mars, over cloud ninety nine.  I spread the news to everyone . after having our cup of coffee and toast we were moved to the ward. Unfortunately we did not get a private room and we were sent down to the general ward with six other beds. WE got a nice spot in the corner by the window where my little one rested in her cradle. We had a lot to learn and Ashitha was finding the initial few hours really , really hard. The body has undergone such a large change in few hours and over that the pressure of taking care of the baby. No one could stick around after half past eight and Ashitha was all by herself. No one was comfortable with that. I kept texting her all night along. She was grappling with the concept of feeding the baby. It must have been a tough night for her. There is nothing much anyone could do.

That night, all I could do was watch the video clips and pictures I had taken over and over again. I had a dream that I was rushing to work, wearing a blue shirt. On my way, I kept announcing to everyone that I had a baby girl and when they asked me the name I said “Gayathri”.

Everyone in the house had their own suggestion for a name and none of them were in complete agreement with each name. But somehow, the name Gayathri struck a chord with everyone. To my delight all were in agreement. My sister, my mother, my dad, Ashitha and her parents were all fine with that. The name meant a lot in Hindu faith, the name of a Hindu goddess. The wife of the lord of creation, ‘Brahma’.

Generally the naming ceremony of the baby is very traditional back home, but now that I am Irish, we are going the Irish way of naming on the spot. We got her records updated on day two.  Ashitha and Gayathri spent another night at the hospital. After the drugs from day one wore off, Ashitha felt day two even tougher. WE finally came home on a Sunday. My sister and I had decorated the home to welcome them back. It was a celebration!!

Ashitha and I were cautioned that after the delivery the hormone levels in the mum will be all over the place. We did not know what it meant, but realised that emotions run really high for the next few weeks after Gayathri arrived. Nothing can prepare anyone for that. Especially partners. The mother have to deal with a pain of the body putting it back itself together so time is not easy on the mum as well. It’s very tricky situation, including high stress. Diplomacy and patience is what everyone needs. I have learned it, but its part of whole package. The joy of holding Gayathri sure does shrivel every other incident to a molehill. It was all worth it.

Gayathri is one lucky girl, she got plenty f gifts within the first few weeks. So many so, that in the past month and a half she hasn't tried them all. 

Now all I do is eagerly is watch Gayathri grow, recognize me and give me that million dollar toothless smile.