9th May 2010 meant it was one year since my little bundle of joy arrived into my life. No way I could afford to miss her first b'day, even when the Eyjafjallajokull fire-mountain threatened for a while. Ah no, back to good old Trivandrum in the nick of time, and ouch... the summer this time in Kerala was reportedly harder than usual.
No glitches to report though, the birthday celebrations went on fine :)
Got a chance to meet up with old friends. Sad, many of the old pals are now scattered around in Bangalore, Gurgaon, Kuwait, Halifax, Chicago, San Diego and the likes. Trivandrum, without them, now feels a lot different than it used to be 3-4 years back. And the couple of old friends left in Trivandrum, one is a surgeon in Medical College and the other an Area Manager of a Pharma Co, supervising from Kottayam down. In short, they seldom find time to look at themselves in the mirror or relax for a while on the commode.
Nevertheless, found some time to do what I love most to do when I'm in the city. Visited the new international terminal under construction in Trivandrum. Matter of pride and despair. Hoped to use it this time but ha!
Took family to the Zoo, myself going there after at least a decade! Lion, hippo, rhino, deer, monkeys, snakes, rats all ok, but where has the Giraffe gone?
Watched TRDCL change the looks of my city. MG Road works seen here, the surfacing of the road has been completed since.
Meanwhile the construction of the half-kilometer long flyover at Bakery Jn still carries on. We're promised vehicles will be 'flying over' pretty soon. hmmm...
The church has got back its old colours, and the road in front is being given a new surface, lane-by-lane.
City has got an extra touch of green though many trees have been axed down. But who will tame this litter menace? (empty plastic water sachets thrown around in front of the Martyr's square after some political/ religious procession left the scene)
Checked out a few eateries...old and new. Nothing beats Buhari at Attakulangara and Rahmaniya inside Chalai. You'd better try this one out if you yearn for the posh variety. Ambrosia @ Heera Grace, Kowdiar! Trendy, spacious, rich menu, nice ambiance but may well scald your pockets.
Stayed a couple of days at the good old Tharavadu in Kayamkulam. My family bosses decided to raze down the century-old charming tiled house to build a modern concrete structure and it was my first time at the new house. The old one never needed a fan but it appears as if you'd need a 2 ton conditioning beast to make this thing livable. A goddamn greenhouse!
Not to mention the last 2 days in Trichur, at wife's home.
Hey, went to the famed Trichur gold-houses to get some metal for the li'l one. Mother-in-law was certain that we'd get year-round blessings if we bought gold on May 16th, Akshayathrithiya. Scam, but its not wise arguing with her. Gold merchants are making merry @ 13k+ per sovereign, but we get tons of free prosperity this day. Still awaiting the promised 'free' stuff...
Back to Trivandrum in Amritha Express.
Saw the MG Road being tarred in front of the AG's Office on way back home from the Railway Station. 2 days since, I read that the same road has been dug up by the Water Authority! (Image courtesy Keralakaumudi) Hail Public Works, Kerala!
And back...How disappointing I'm not flying out of the T3 :( Guess the lobby and gate will be more luxurious than this. Next time, surely.And wait, don't tell me you haven't seen the sneak shots of the interiors of the new terminal. Click, and enjoy, thanks to Vivek, a smart techie boy and member of Skyscrapercity India forum.
See you again folks :-)
PS: Managed to publish in a hurry, an already drafted post about Shashi Tharoor's one year as the MP of Trivandrum. Guess who got impressed? :whistle:
Thanks to Shashi Tharoor's tweet, the article brought 3600 hits in 24 hours and has fetched 52 responses until today. Whew, some serious publicity for my hobby! :-)
