4 Cricket matches, 3 Birthday parties, 2 Weddings and a Funeral

Last 2 weeks in April and beginning of May this year happened to be long holiday weekend(s) for most people in the UK. Last week it was Good Friday with Easter bank holiday Monday and this week it was 'Royal wedding' (on Friday the 29th) with Mayday bank holiday Monday. Three days of annual leave would guarantee an easy 11 day holiday (seven days annual leave would give a 17 day break!). This happens very rarely in UK (other than during the Christmas/New year time). It was also the hottest April month in last 100 years!

I watched IPL, which has been a mixed bag for the team from Kerala- the Kochi Tuskers. They had lost the last 3 games in dramatic fashion and today was the fourth match, which they had to win to be in contention for the play-off's. It was the most bizzare game that was played with Delhi dare-devils due to various reasons; but the one thing which stays in mind is that how many runs can you give off a single delivery? This was the fifth ball of Umesh Yadav's first over. First he bowled a wide delivery - a high bouncer (an extra run), then his beamer flew for a six (that was above waist high for Brendon McCullum whose stylish reflexes made the ball fly over fine leg for a maximum- now 1+1+6) before he finally managed to bowl a legal delivery that McCullum crash-pulled over the midwicket boundary i.e. 1+1+6+6=14 runs! Anyway the match was won by the Tuskers.

The Royal Wedding was fantastic. We watched the whole programme live on tele and it felt really nice. Kate and William appeared to be a couple in love. I wish their married life is happy and successful. The wedding was truly royal- the systematic arrival of guests, the elegant arrival of Kate (now the Duchess of Cambridge), the church service, the journey of the newly weds back to the palace, the drive in Aston Martin and the finale was the Balcony kiss. The whole world (some 2 billion) watched the whole show directed from London displaying the pomp and lavishness that Britain does so well. It was like a fairy tale come true to many people sealed with a kiss. I would say it was like 'love in time of cholera!'

We went to Durham for the seventh annual day celebrations of 'Sruthi' on Sunday (30th) It was an authentic malayali cultural evening (as always). The highlight was the tribute of UK malayalees to ONV Kurup, who was recently awarded the 'jnanapitam', the highest literary honour given in India. It was a fantastic evening of 'ONVmayam' that included "Kavyadrishyangal"- a unique portrayal of woman and nature as depicted in many ONV poems, " Aatmaavil Muttivilichathu Pole- An informal discussion and poetry session with ONV, "Varika Gandharvagayaka Veendum"- A short musical focussing on contemporary life and incorporating many nostalgic ONV songs and finally "Maanikyaveena Ganamela" led by Aparna Rajeev featuring many melodious, memorable and everlasting ONV lyrics that have mesmerised generations. It was also good to see Mr K Natarajan's (affectionately called 'Rajettan') first book being launched by Sri ONV Kurup. The book is titled 'Guruvum Laghuvum' a collection of simple yet elegant poems written in malayalam. It was a rejuvenating and nostalgic evening. I did not feel tired driving to Durham and back at a stretch (6hours)!

Manikutty had her birthday in between. We had a small cake cutting on her birthday, followed by a barbecue party on Sunday. Both went very well. It was good weather, family, friends, great food and a delicious cake:). She is planning a third party for her school friends this weekend- A' canoeing party' at Leicester Outdoor pursuits centre!

There was also the wedding of Malayalam film actor Prithviraj to his love in Kerala. I cannot understand the 'hoo haa' raised by this, especially among some of the fairer sex who are not 'fully happy or satisfied' by this wedding. My feeling is that if the couple who got married, their families and friends do not have any major issues, then why are some annoyed about this?

The holiday culminated with the news of a 'sea funeral' that my brother broke early on Monday morning. i.e. the death of OBL in a dramatic action by 'US navy seals' in the 'heart' of Pakistan...

കഥ പറയും മുന്പേ......

AK Lohithadas passed away this morning...Very sad and unexpected loss to the whole malayalam film industry.

I would say that he is one of this kind of 'scripwriter- director' whose movies were high in artistic content,but at the same time, depicted common mans life and themes in a realistic way...very similar to the 'Padmarajan- Bharathan', 'Sreenivasan-Sathyan Anthikad' combinations he made many successful movies in what is called the 'Golden age of Malayalam cinema' (eighties and ninties) with Sibi Malayil. Before this time there were broadly two types of movies ie either the art /parallel cinema and the mainstream commercial movies. The boundary between these two were gone in the late 80's ...thanks to all these filmakers.

Lohithadas' first script was for the movie 'thaniavarthanam' and after that there was no turning back. He wrote script for about 30 movies, directed about 10 movies, acted and wrote songs in a few. He received many state and atleast one national award (Bhoothakannadi-his debut movie as a director) if I remember correctly. Most of his movies had a bit of tragedy in it and may be thats one of the reason it stays in mind for ever.

Some of his memorable movies and scenes for me include:
1. The helpless mother mixing poison in rice and giving it to her son (Thaniavarthanam)
2. The dashing of the hopes and aspirations of a middleclass young man and his family due to just one incident and how the society sees it and dictates the life of people (Kireedam)
3. The relationship and love between two brothers and the circumstances that lead to one's concealment of the others death and the trauma, he experiences..... (Bharatham)
4. The dreams of a poor fisherman father (and daughter) who wants his daughter to become a doctor being shattered by her love and subsequent marriage to her childhood friend (Amaram)
5. The life of an extended farming family in Kerala told through the responsible and loving elder brother (Vatsalyam)

One dialogue I cannot forget is in Dasharatham (Mohanlal). This dialogue probably summarises what Lohithadas has to say about life....

"ഇതു എന്റെ life ആണ് . ഞാന്‍ അത് ചില്ല് പാത്രം പോലെ എറിഞ്ഞു പൊട്ടിക്കും , അലമാരിക്കുള്ളില്‍ ഇട്ടു പൂട്ടും , ചപ്പാത്തി പോലെ പരത്തും ,റബ്ബര്‍ പന്ത് പോലെ കളിക്കും അത് എന്റെ ഇഷ്ടം . ആരും ഒന്നും പറയണ്ട ”

This list is endless ...His highness abdullah, Kamaladalam, Adharam, Sallapam, Kanmadam etc, etc...His loss is irreplacable( like Padmarajan), but I hope he has shown the way for others to make similar themes in the future and bring back the golden days of Malayalam cinema...

Who is a Mallu?

I first went to North-India in the mid 1990's;
When people asked me, where I am from, I reply 'Kerala'....the usual response is oh, from 'Madras' or 'Madrasi' hae?...after a few unsuccessful attempts to explain the geography of India to an 'Ignorant' fellow country man, I stopped clarifying and just smiled. A friend once told me that the reply should be that Keralites are the beef eating people from the south!

A person from Kerala is usually known as a malayali or a keralite (most poular and most commonly used term world-wide to describe such a person) or sometimes Malabari (usually in the middle east). One of my English friend uses the term 'Keralan' to describe malayalees, which I think is sort of nice....

"Mallu" is a relatively new term that probably came into existence about a decade ago. The term is usually used to describe a person of malayali origin often settled outside kerala, either in India or overseas. Generally this term is now used for the recent malayali immigrants to the major cities in India or in the Middle East, US or Europe. This term has been made popular by chat-forums, web-pages, Blogs etc. There are also other terms like 'mallu jokes'(similar to sardarji jokes; the main characters being Kuttappan and Rajappan),'mallu cuisines', 'mallu weddings' and 'mallu sayings' or proverbs.

In which ever part of the world they are, a mallu will definitely be a part of an Onam celebration or Christmas/New year celebration. If the other communities (ie from other states of India) have one celebration for an occasion in an area, a malayali will have many associations and samajams in one little town. Its like our kerala congress party.... വളരുന്തോറും പിളരുകയ്യും, പിളരുന്തോറും വളരുകയും പോലെ ; This can be based on religion, caste, sub-sect, faith, class, profession, native place in kerala, institutions etc etc. Interestingly one will try to work പാര for another and vice-versa.. But they are all smiles and കെട്ടിപിടുതം when they see each other.

Mallus are present in every nook and corner of the world. Every one knows that they are omnipresent....including Neil Armstrong! The lyrics in the old malayalam song should be changed to " തൂണിലും തുരിമ്ബില്ലും മല്ലു ഇരിക്കുന്നു ". Also it seems that a typical mallu eat beef with most of their dishes along with fish, chicken and/or mutton.

I think the best place to see a typical mallu is the waiting lounge at one of the Gulf airports to catch the connection flight to Kerala (many would have travelled 8-16 hours from Europe or US)......Some will be wearing half the jewelery shop, some with ray-ban glasses but most will have a duty free shopping bag with a big packet of Marlboro cigarette sticking outside or sometimes with loads of 'Johnnie walkers' stuffed in their duty free bags.

In-flight entertainment is usually provided by our typical mallu by their behavior. What they do to get more attention and 'respect' from the cabin-crew, the number of helpings for scotch. Before the flight is just about to land, they would be throwing the seat belt away and rushing towards the exit....

Conclusion - "All mallus are malyali's, but all malayali's are not Mallus"......

So what do I like to be called?....Personally I don't like the term Mallu...I very much prefer a malayali or a keralite...