Awesome view, awful coffee and other things about Chalakudy

Upair has finally gotten into the "having fun" mood and on Sunday we went to Chalakudy. For those of you who are clueless (which is ok 'coz this list could include people FROM Kerala too, so those who are not from here, don't feel bad about your poor Geography.... but those from Kerala who don't know where and what Chalakudy is- how did you every pass 10th? On second thoughts, don't tell me!), let Prof. Ida enlighten you:
Chalakudy has the most beautiful waterfalls in the history of humanity as witnessed by Ida- because Ida has not seen too many waterfalls, or too much of humanity’s history, for that matter...

It is just vast stretches of beautiful, Jurassic Park-isque roads, leading to the most spectacular view ever...The weather was just perfect- the sort when it is just about to rain, but it doesn’t…you know the sort of feeling you get when you feel you are full but then you see ice-cream and think that you can mange to squeeze it in and you do and you feel all happy that you did not throw up… And then you notice that your figure hugging dress has gone really tight and then you have to hold your tummy in so that nobody notices how full you are, but you are, in reality, so full that everyone notices anyway?.... well, the clouds looked full in a similar way- as if they were trying to hold their tummy in and were really smug about the last cone of ice-cream they got to have…except that for clouds it will have to be water drops and not ice-cream, but I guess you guessed that already, even though you are clueless about Geography…Lovely roads...can't you just imagine

Dinos round the corner??

And it had just rained before and so all the trees had been scrubbed clean and looked fresh and green, as only plants can (if we were to look green, we would look like a terminally ill patient…not that I mean to offend terminally ill patients or I mean to imply that they are green…ah, you get my drift…)
And as we progressed, we could see whole line-up of monkeys, at this point I should be pointing out the similarities between Upair and a monkey, but I will resist the temptation…We stopped at a place that offered a clear view of the Athirappilly falls (called Athirampally falls in Malayalam…somehow, the English always managed to skip or modify the names of our places!) It was just wonderful…. glorious milky white water was frothing down the rocks and sending up vapours that made the whole scene look ethereal…did I say milky white? Well, actually one side of the water looked VERY dirty and this set Upair and me thinking as to what could be the reason…Upair, as usual, with his fascination for the macabre thought that there must be some dead body up there and all the blood was making the water dirty…

Athirappilly falls

If you can't read the red letters- they say "DIRTY WATER" in "adult" Ida scribble

We saw others at the spot drinking tea/coffee and felt that that was exactly what we should do…there is something about drinking coffee, when it is cold and you have this lovely scenery (even if tainted with a dead body’s blood) that just can’t be expressed in words…it is like eating popcorn during movies…so anyway, there was this small shack right behind us and we got ourselves coffee. And sipped it all ready to breathe out in sheer ecstasy, but AAH! YUCK!!! it was the worst coffee I have ever had- including the coffee I make, and that is really saying something- it had tiny blobs of milk-like-paper-like thingies that were impossible to swallow…if you ever go down there, my advice- DO NOT drink coffee from the shack/shop.
This minor incident forgotten, we were on the road again, more beautiful roads, more monkeys…we stopped in-between to take snaps of the roads and Upair’s car ‘coz that is his first wife … as we got out I saw this teeny-little trickle of water, a baby waterfall, which I named “Upair and Ida Waterfall”, of course I did not tell Upair this, ‘coz he would not understand it…

Upair's first love- the car!
"Upair and Ida Baby Waterfalls"

Wooow, this post is becoming long, so lemme shorten this- there were 2 other beautiful waterfalls- Charpa and Vazhachal. Vazhachal is as famous as Athirappilly and Charpa is just a small little fall that got a name because it was in the right area!
There are some water theme parks en route too, and they’ve advertised massively, so they are difficult to miss…. we didn’t go there, so no comments.

Charpa Falls

Well, that brings us to the end of the journey…downhill was uneventful, except for Upair getting over-excited with the beautifully curving roads and driving as if he was playing a video-game and me finally throwing up…but what the hell, it was all worth it! And the dinner Upair got me made up for it in a big way- more about that later.

Ta-ta for now and take care…

Post about Delhi and food..and , um, food, and... well...mostly food and that's about it...

Today is kinda breezy outside…it is just like the Holi season in Delhi, except that there are no kids on the rooftops, just waiting to throw water balloons, eggs and anything else that is liquidy(I know there is no such word..) or gooey at you and there are no uncles standing on the rooftops waiting to ogle at young, wet dames…I mean there are uncles, but as there are no young, wet dames around, they do not have much to ogle at, their best bet would be to pray for it to rain, I mean, had I been a desperate uncle, I would be praying to Indra THIS VERY MINUTE!
The climate outside makes me really miss my Delhi days, sigh!…We would go out walking everyday and in every season with just one mission- FOOD!
We were an odd group- diverse culturally- two Punjabis, one Haryanvi, one Telugu, one Tamilian, one mallu raised in Orissa and yours truly, another mallu, raised all over India…and yet there was one thing that brought us together, one thing that kept us toghether through stress, fights and heartbreaks, the one thing that was a common passion- FOOD! (I mean that was kind of obvious, wasn’t it? Did all my senti nonsense fool you people into thinking that I was going to write about something serious???)

We would walk down the roads- out first stop would be for some HOT vada at “Madras Cafe”, which was nothing more than a glorified parapet sheet supported by four bamboos, right next to the open drainage providing additional delight! The best ambience ever…as you inhaled the excellent smell of the drain, you ate oil-rich vada and were entertained by the live mosquito orchestra…which would occasionally eat a bit of you, or occasionally form a part of you food intake, such SYMBIOSIS!

Up the street, the next stop would be Agarwal’s…here I just had to have the “protozoan water balls” as my sir called it, also known as “golguppa”, “pochka” or “pani puri”. They were again served next to the open drain and as the day progressed, the number of germs in the golguppa proportionately increased. I know the stuck-up ones reading this might be crinkling their noses, but you do not know the true India. I mean, we live for the street food- hospitals, stomach upsets, typhoid, cholera, diphtheria, malaria, jaundice, dysentery etc are just things you learn to live with…I mean, you would die anyway, who would want to die without having first tasted such delights? Street food is good ‘coz:
a.You prove your love for the culinary traditions of the country
b.You improve your immune system by exposing it to the ruthless world out there
c.You help a man (or woman, let’s not be sexist here…) earn a living
d.You once and for all establish the dominance of The Tongue over all other systems of the body
e.Your boring walk to any place becomes instantly interesting
See? And this is all that I could think up right now, if I thought some more, I am sure I’ll find more points. But coming back to Dilli days…Agarwal’s was also great place for hot jalebis, gulab jamuns, bread pakodas, samosas, mathri, kachori…. the list is long…

We would then stop at a bakery-Duke’s- yes the hoity-toity ones sitting there can at last exhale in relief…we are now on “clean grounds”. Here it would be Kathi rolls, rum balls, truffles, burgers or whatever caught our fancy and then we would head for a juice shop to wash it all down with a shake….
I mean, how can one concentrate on studies, without a little something in the tummy?

I realize I have a whole list of places still uncovered… have I made you hungry yet, or should I go on???? Forget it, let me go grab a snack….bon appetite y’all.

My template is like my husband...

Dear Diary,

This is what I did today:
I decided to change the template of my blog, because even though it is good and all it is too perfect to reflect the real "me".
Then I searched a million(419,000,000) websites and selected templates that reflected the real me.
Then I tried the new templates to see how they looked, only to discover that I would lose my widgets if I tried a new template.
So I dug through 49,100 pages for "how to save followers widget when changing template" And learnt how to do it from http://bloggersentral.blogspot.com/2009/04/keeping-your-widgets-when-changing.html
Then I thought of trying it on my blog.
But then I stopped myself because, I realized that this template is just like Upair. It might not be exactly what I wanted, it might not be my carbon copy, but I have grown to like it for what it is. I am used to it, and it is lovely in its own way...so dear diary, I guess I will stick to this.

Ida.

Sneezing through history....

‘Ello peepillz, as we say in Kerala, I am back!! Had a really fun time in Coimby and mom’s food was as delicious as ever (I mean, I know, all kids say their moms cook well but my mom REALLY cooks well!)
Came back on Sunday, I know, I know, I could have posted yesterday, but I was being the lazy bum that I am something really important came up. So, I thought better late than never and started typing this post.
I had the most terrible cold in the history of humanity on Sunday but that did not stop me from going out with Upair, so that I could get fodder for this blog of mine. See the sacrifices I make for you guys…I wouldn’t be surprised if Pope wants to Beatify me (Sorry, I have no clue how the beatification process goes, but I am pretty saintly, I really am, but I am not insulting the saints here, it is just that I think that Pope might think so, I can think right? Btw, do they beatify one for sacrificing? And don’t tell me you don’t wish to be a saint in your heart of hearts…all those TV serials being produced in your name, tourists coming to your birth place and what not…C’mon, be honest…)
So, anyway, we went to this Museum in Thevara called “Kerala Folklore Theatre and Museum”. It was truly El Superbo! (Yeah, I am not happy killing English, I have to try my hand at other languages). It is a private collection of this person who also trades in antiques. The entire place takes you back to the age when people had time in their hands and art was really an art and aesthetics were held supreme.

Right from the gate, to the fan, to the displayed objects, you can find history speaking to you. There are antique masks and musical instrument, statues and paintings, a huge collection of lamps and ornaments. Each piece of work is a story unto itself. The lady who was guiding us was helpful and even though I was sneezing throughout, she did not once show disgust, heh!heh! I tried my best to keep my mouth shut, but being the fountain of wisdom that I am, I had to comment and ask questions throughout….hmmm… I wonder why she was paying more attention to Upair than me, I mean a few intellectual questions from Ida, what could be more welcome than that?
Of course, the entire place is not old, they have AC and switch boards, that couldn’t have been antiques (unless there was a genius who created AC in the past but because he was ahead of his times, he was given no attention and AC was finally created by whoever it is we credit creation of AC with. Highly possible though it is, the AC s in this museum did not belong to that genius and he, till date, remains unknown…sigh!), have been well disguised to look old. Like, there is this wooden statue-like thingy covering the switchboards and the AC looks like the cabinets from olden times. I wish I could have taken pictures but photography inside was “strictly prohibited”. But Upair did get a few shots from outside…so, once again let’s thank Upair.(All rise, say “Thank You Upair”, now sit.) But anyway, since I have not taken any awesome shots of the inside, you will just have to imagine that the place looked awesome…
Most of the collection is from South India, though they do have Chinaware and Portuguese stuff…which came from the days of trade relations and/or colonization.
So, if you were in Kochi with say an hour to kill, this would be a nice spot to hit.
I did sneeze all over the place, but I am sure I did not infect any area because I use a handkerchief. So you can go there feeling pretty safe.
Wellllllllllll ta-ta for now, more coming soon….byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

A few pics from the website...'coz they would not let us shoot inside!

The Kochi blogger remains the Kochi blogger and the world continues to be a happy place...

Kochi- home sweet home

Coimbatore- home sweet home too....

Yippppppppppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! I am going home- Coimbatore- tomorrow (I call Patna, Delhi, Pune, Chennai, Alappuzha, Kochi AND Coimbatore my home, but that is another story, for another day- lucky you!!!)
Coimbatore is where my parents decided to settle, close enough to Kerala- from where they originally are but not close enough for relatives to constantly pester them…pretty clever, eh?
I have a cousin who recently moved to Kochi with her hubby and she decided to opt for a place in my area- she has an uncle in this area too and she decided that staying close to relatives (her uncle and Ida plus their respective families= loads of people!!) might be a good idea- poor soul, she really has a lot to learn, doesn’t she??? Especially if she is staying close Ida, she will get “special” lessons in life that she never needed, and I have so much of unnecessary info that I am just waiting to share, she would be ideal!Yeah, I am pretty benevolent that way…
She has no idea what she is in for…this is going to be fun!!!!!
But anyway, before I got distracted with the possibility of making my dear cousin’s life interesting (which is a pretty distracting topic, but what to do…I have other things to write, sigh) I was saying that I am going to Coimbatore…maybe I must change my name to “the Coimbatore blogger” for a few days, except that I would not be there for more than 3-4 days and then I will have to change back again to “the Kochi blogger”, and I do not know if I will be blogging from there, so it could all be a waste of time. Besides which, it is also possible that somebody else wants the name “the Coimbatore blogger” and if I use it, the person would be deprived of the name…plus when I want the name “the Kochi blogger” back, it is equally possible that someone else might have wanted the name, seeing how great a blog “the Kochi blogger” is set to become (ok, you people can wipe that smirk off your faces…), and this person may STEAL MY BLOG!!! And then I will have to kill the person to get back “the Kochi blogger”, (yeah, I saw Terminator Salvation recently) which is of course mine, and what if the person doesn’t like the idea of being killed and is a psychopath who just does not understand that my life is more precious than his? That could be really messy….. what I am basically trying to say is that I am saving the Coimbatore blogger, the future Kochi blogger and all of us a lot of trouble… “AND YET AGAIN, IDA SAVES THE WORLD”!!!!!!!!!!
So, while Kochi is sure to be mourning my loss for a few days, Coimbatore is waiting with bated breath (is bated breath the term I am looking for? Hmm…not sure, but you get the drift…)
So, as I face the prospects of a few days of unadulterated, mummy-cooked food-o-maina, an unleashed fest of gluttony...let me smile that enigmatic smile of mine and say…see you people soon with reports from Coimbatore…and remember, I will still be “the Kochi blogger”, and NOT the Coimbatore blogger, ok?

Ida becomes a visionary and preaches religion(which one??)

You know, I have been typing this post like billion times, and each time it JUST DOES NOT SEEM RIGHT, ok, so you guys will just have to forgive me...I have just resigned myself to my fate- this will not be a great post(don't you DARE suggest the others were not great either, I know how they were, but a woman can give in to occasional fantasies, can't she?)
Been bed ridden for past two days...just before I fell ill I told my hubby dear that I had a feeling I was going to fall ill...he is so used to me falling ill that he now hardly reacts when I say something like this...time was when I just had to sigh and he would be hugging me and consoling me and time is now when I would be lying in bed, unable to move a muscle, he would just look in and say "do you think you can make me a coffee..." humph!
So, as predicted, I fell ill...another prophesy comes true...these days everything I say comes true...I had placed a plate of milk in front of our cat and predicted that she would drink milk and guess what? she did...I had predicted that it will rain, and it did, when I predicted that it won't, lo and behold! it didn't(of course that is how monsoons in Kerela work, but why are we even discussing this topic?)..
So you know I have this feeling that my prophetic vision is getting stronger by the day...maybe I should start doing this professionally, like Nostradamus ...but wasn't he like killed or something? Let's not try Nostradamus then, maybe I can be "Mata Ida" or "St. Ida" or "whatever-you-call-god-people-in-other-religions Ida" That would be neat, eh? Being agnostic myself, I might just have to bumble my way through things, but hey, who doesn't? And with my prophetic vision, it really does not matter...
So, what do you guys say? Who wants to join me in the most profitable business ever??Limited seats only... Free predictions for first few entries...Hurry...offer expires soon...

PS: Yes, I am writing this in a totally "high" state with all the medications, I dedicate this masterpiece to my doctors!!

We love the things we hate about each other...but what we "really" love is to sleep

So, our marriage is now officially one year old. Yesterday was our first wedding anniversary....and all Upair has till now to show of it is a few months of continuous headache, a few (like 3-dozen-a-day....pretty low, right) acidity attacks, a teeny- little potbelly and that's about it...I mean, no prescriptions for Prozac or Xanax or any other fun stuff all other married couple have!! I know, I am pretty slow...but months of headache, I can't be ALL bad at this "being wife" business,huh?
I know he often has tears in his eyes, but that must just be the joy of living with me, right?
The basic problem is that his idea of ideal wife is this




And I am more like this

(I don't know if I am allowed to use these pictures, but hey, whoever owns this, you must understand that you are contributing to a great cause- explaining to the world what I would never have been able to in words, and besides I have given links to your site, so you get free back links and you must be happy, but if you would still want me to remove it...just write in...)

So, anyway, now you know what lies at the crux of a happy marriage- a husband who has so bad a headache that he cannot notice what's wrong with his wife anymore and a wife so ill all the time that she is beyond thinking about anything but sleep...

Therefore, you can safely say that we "slept" our way through one full year of married life...others might tell you that you have to communicate...that is true, you MUST talk, but not to each other...my hubby talks to his cars and gadgets, I talk to random strangers on the internet...see, perfect harmony...

We went out to The Rennaissance yesterday(the name of a Hotel and not a theatre group)...I was dissapointed to find that the waiters there do NOT dress up like Rennaissance artists and they do not have brush-shaped forks and knives and verses of poem printed on the tablecloth....does nobody have a sense of theme anymore??? But seriously, the place looked great and the food was even better and I would reccomend it to anybody who loaths bland food, 'coz the food there is anything but bland...

We are both like seated in this romantic table and I am all thinking about how in-love we must look and Upair actually says the most romantic thing he can say, he calls me "Mandi"(Something equal to an Idiot in Malayalam, but in a sweet way)..yeah, coming from Upair, that's high romance....so now I am all over the moon and can't stop all the love that is flowing out of me....we finished dinner, went for a leeetle drive, came back and slept...slept, seriously, that was us after one year:) Still surviving.....