The spider, the cobra and the elephant

Gopurum The of Srikalahasti Temple


Okay, I like totally agree with the fact that I did go into a period of dormancy, a time where no matter how hard I tried, and how many hours I spend (which I must confess that I didn't) I couldn't whip out anything even halfway publishable (I have high standards)

But now I feel this new surge of freshness and energy, and I guess I could be pretty much back in form. But then that can only be judged at the end of this post.

So as much as my Husband Kaushik would like to hear that this renewed freshness is due to his return from Germany, after more than two months......there is more to it.

The reason is our trip to Srikalahasti Temple. Our agenda at the temple was to perform the famous 'Rahu-Ketu' puja to pacify the planets. The temple is situated in a picturesque village about 20 Km from Tirupati.

It is one of the panchabhoota sthalam - representing five basic elements. This is the Vayu Sthalam among the Pancha Bootha Sthalams representing Air. The others are - Tiruvannamalai (Thejo sthalam - Fire) Kanchipuram (Prithvi sthalam - Earth) Tiruvanaikaval (Appu sthalam - Water) Chidambaram (Akasa sthalam - Space).

Legend has it that Lord Shiva disguised as Vayu (Air) observed that The Spider (SRI), Cobra (KALA) and Elephant (HASTI) worshipped Him very devotedly. So Lord Shiva made them to relieve from the curse and attain salvation, hence this place is called Srikalahasti.

We left from Tirupati at 6 am, where Krishna (my brother) joined us from Chennai, and as a cool party of four (including husband and mother in law) we boarded the bus to the temple. The temple seemed to be drenched in a divine energy that was so calming and refreshing. The hot weather was assuaged by the cool interiors of the temple which had more than a hundred pillars.

By the time we left Kalahasti, the sun was blazing so we hurried back to Tirupati wondering why the spider, cobra and the elephant were cursed in the first place.

Kaushik and Krishna at hotel Sarvana Bhavan

Two of a kind

Living with roomates is like having the best of both worlds. You get the care and concern of a parent with delicious home cooked meals. Also no unnecessary nagging inflicted on you as though you were an eternal teenager. And I for one have been very lucky to have two brilliant girls staying with me.

Karpagavalli

If you want to do a crash course on south Indian culture, just step into my house, most likely you’ll be welcomed with a strong aroma of ‘Rasam’, that's been prepared by KK or Karpagavalli. An engineer and YES!+ teacher.

And don't be surprised to find an equally beautiful girl, sporting a gigantic tattoo, working on her macbook. that's Priya, an advertising professional.

Both teach YES!+ workshops, both stunningly beautiful Tamilian Iyers (in fact I share those traits in common trait, especially the beautiful part) and that's where the similarities end.

One cooks, the other eats. One is a fashion diva, the other rooted in traditiona. One the epitome of enthusiasm and zest for life, other, the personification of ethereal calmness. One totally into chic flicks, other, Sci-fi freak (she watched hard core Sci-fi three nights in a row)

Tattooed: Priya Mani

Opposite values are complementary and this is a real, live, practical example.

Now that I’ve created enough curiosity, I’ll leave the rest for you to discover. An easy way will be doing the YES!+ workshop that they teach at Koramangala one from 25th to 1st july, 5-9 pm @ Indian Heritage Academy.


Warning: The above text was NOT written for matrimonial purposes. Please do NOT start spamming my inbox with those intentions (even otherwise spamming is bad!).

The curious case of Krishna Kalyan

Today’s the day I feel weirdly nostalgic about! Its Krishna’s (my brother’s) birthday. If he was around, we would have gone out to eat at some ridiculously expensive restaurant, and he would have demanded a ridiculously expensive gift (like a macbook pro).But since I am saving so much money, I decided to dedicate this post to him.

When he was born and I was about three, I remember being wildly angry at my parents and kicked, screamed and demanded them to go right back to the hospital, and leave him there.But since then, I’ve grown quiet affable to his presence (OMG I’ve endured 20 years of torture, no wonder our family turned spiritual).

Though we fought like cats and dogs, and I’d always outwit and outdo him at any combat. That is until 14, when gods suddenly decided to grace him with height, and he started resembling a bean pole overnight, and I knew that I was physically (rather vertically) challenged to fight our brutal wars. As a kid he was a FAT baby, and he would hardly talk, little did we know that the seeds of a master arguementator was being sown, and now with his words, he can baffle the most accomplished of word smith (even dad).

He loves speaking about himself, My earliest memories of krishna talking about himself in past tense when he was two years old, saying “ Jab main one dena half ka than na..(when I was one-dena half...).” And he would say that till he was 5.

At 6, I did something that he would never forgive me of, I poured half a bottle of vinegar (very smelly) on his head, and he smelt of vinegar for one week!This started the onslaught of our fragrance wars. Our dad had gone in a ship and brought these two horrid human repellent Jasmine perfume for our mom. And we caught hold of these and used it as our arsenal. One threat of using these would stop the most intense fight. But there were times when we did use it, and then we’d have to open all windows and switch on all the fans and only then could we breathe.

He started displaying leadership qualities at mere 9 years, when he became the youngest leader of a gang comprising 12 and 13 year olds (no proof, strictly his claims, citation needed). And finally at 15 he transformed into human magically after doing YES course with Shreya Didi. Read here about it. And then well, we all lived happily ever after.

That's it. Happy Birthday bro. When (and if) you are really famous one day, I promise to be your official biographer, and we will make millions and become really rich.