Lalita Iyer

  EMPTY ROADS AND SOARING KITES It always astounds me when there are no traffic bottlenecks in Hyderabad city. On normal days there is always a reason for the bottleneck. And the worst ones are created for the VIPs, including Mana CM.  Anyways all that was taken care of this entire week with everything being a cool ride and reaching destinations on time or before time. Thanks to everyone who was travelling in crowded buses  to their home towns for this festival of the new alignment of the sun.  All the favourite tea shops, bajji bandis, jilebi makers, vegetable vendors, bangle sellers had gone to Andhra Pradesh for the festival. The road leading to Kukatpally was a delight to drive on. In fact every road, every fly over, all junctions looked new, freshly paved and well behaved. Even as I write about it, it is time for us prepare ourselves to be back in the jam.  On Pongal day we were invited by Gopalaswami and his wife Ranjani for lunch. They live in Vietnam and...

  BLAME BUREAUCRATS FOR GIRLS NOT ATTENDING SCHOOL In fact one of the top reasons for girls not attending schools in villages and small towns is the lack of toilet facilities. Oops, I stand corrected. Not that our city is any better. There are many toilets built, under so many government schemes, but none of the mahanubavulus (read bureaucrats) thought that water would be needed. Build the toilet, inaugurate it, done and dusted. In the next power point presentation they will have the number of toilets built in each hamlet. And also expect a pat on the back and Central funding for the same. In fact there should be a follow up on how many toilets are in use. This follow up and holding the government accountable becomes the sole responsibility of the local stringer or journalist. Instead of passing urine on the roadside, he can visit the school bathrooms to see how much in use they are. We are also not toilet trained. Because we think we can leave turd in the toilet bowl and walk away...

  RETREAT WITH SHUFFLING DEALS I caught a day in Hyderabad, washed clothes, cooked a few meals and the next day left at 4 am to fly into Mangaluru for a retreat with the girls from my IC group. We were to be 10 of us but just the six arrived, bright and bushy tailed. From the airport we drove into Hotel Sadanand, in Suratkal famous for it's National Institute of Technology (NIT), all clean and popular and gave hell to the steward. Slowly he became indulgent and smiled through his service. The way we were eating chutney, surprised that they did not get a bucket of the same. The neer  dosas disappeared quickly as did the Mysore masala and the mooda idlis (longer version of regular idlis wrapped and steamed in a banana leaf). The unwrapping is exciting. Then we drove to Kollur Mookambika on National Highway 66. Super roads with an engrossing scenery of tall coconut and areca nut trees and nestled in this forestery are some of the most beautiful houses with tiered roofs made of Ma...

  ELAI SHAAPADU AND TOO MANY BEEDAS The advantage of attending Tamil functions is that you get to eat traditional ellai shapaddu (a festive meal served on a banana leaf) with so many items that you can never do justice. But yet that seating, with the banana leaf in front of you and watching it slowly fill is a fulfilling experience. By and large most items are good, but sometimes a special item will be served adding to the  excitement. Like they served us the most delicious vaayapoo vadai (fritters made of the banana flower) and they gave us several  helpings. The standard menu remains the same, with 3 vegetables, one koshumali, one fry item, sambar, rasam, payasam and depending on the occasion 2 or 3 sweets. And of course there are the huge applams and a water bottle which you cannot open. Sometimes there is mor khozhambu (buttermilk enhanced with coconut masala) and there is always one lime pickle and sometimes a ginger and tamarind pickle too. The whole serving on the ...

  Wed, 8 Feb at 4:07 pm A WEDDING AND A SADABHISHEKAM For a long time now, I had sworn off weddings and any traditional family or friendly event, but I have realised that I am going that route willy nilly.  When friend's children are getting married I need to attend at least one of the events and so prefer only the sangeet, which is colourful, has good eats and always has booze.  But even here I have to dress up. I cannot ever compare notes with the others in this area, but seriously it is such an effort that I actually am doffing my hat at all the well dressed ladies, and that is practically all the women I know and I do not know.  In recent times it is like a little revolution, where all women dress well, look good and are putting in a lot of effort in this area.  I also seem to be attending family events, because I am now representing my parents, who are no more. And good Lord! There are a lot of events, functions, some religious, some deaths, some births, et...

   THE SEASON OF GIVING This is the season of giving. There is a sense of happiness and probably because it is close to being the start of a new year, there is a certain sense of generosity. Forgive and carry on, so to speak. It is also very colourful, with bedecked Christmas trees, shining and reflecting a lot of sparkly light. I can only speak for Hyderabad, but everyone is participating. And lending light and joy and a moment of happiness is exactly what Cherish Orphanage for Boys and Girls along with Sujai A Persa Adla Trust did on Friday afternoon. The room near the peadiatric ward was teeming with people. the volunteers from Cherish were putting up balloons and setting up their equipment for they were to sing later. There were a lot of wires. And many volunteers, both girls and boys walked around, helping where ever they could, including fetching chairs for the visitors, who were children from the paediatric ward at the MNJ Institute of Oncology and Regional Cancer Centr...

WEDDING BLUES (ARGENTINA WON) As I have repeatedly said I do not like to attend weddings or anything related. It is too pretty, too much of dressing up and way too flashy with all jewellery, glittery smiles and disco strobes. During daytime it is too much of visible makeup. Sometimes the food is fantastic, sometimes worse than ordinary. But food is one of the major reasons for attending any such mammoth effort to get strangers together and then feed them. After having attended two specific functions of two weddings in Hyderabad I was congratulating myself on my ability to smile through both the occasions. I travelled with M to Bangalore to attend his friend's daughter's wedding. Shruti wed Felix in an Arya Samaj wedding, with a few Tamilian functions like 'unjal' and such. This is a function where the groom is brought back to the mandap from his sulk to move to Kashi, after promising him his bride. The two are then made to sit on a bedecked swing, while lovely rhythmic...