It's nice to be back!

Helloooooo! I was away for about two weeks because my dad was unwell. But now he is fine and here I am. And I am really glad that a few people did ask me about my blog not being updated - can’t tell you how nice it feels to know that people actually read my blog – whoa! ;)

I went to Thiruvananthapuram (the good old Trivandrum) first and now I am in Kochi. I used to hate Trivandrum as much as I used to love Kochi, but now I guess age and time have mellowed me down and I think Trivandrum is not that bad after all.

And with times, I noticed new aspects of these cities, or rather, old but previously ignored “facts” came to fore. Facts like:

1. It is not easy to be beautiful or glamorous in Kerala; especially during the summer months. You sweat and sweat so much that anything closely related to make-up looks unbearable. You cannot let your hair loose 'coz one minute in the sun and all of it sticks to the nape of your neck (ewwwwww). You can wear nothing but cotton if you want to be comfortable, and denim on your skin is torture. You have to leave your face clean and plain because whatever moisturizer, sunscreen (or one of those thousand and one things) you apply on your face, it slides down your temples in a minute as you perspire. You could use waterproof make up – but then again I am sure even that could be very irritating. So as you can guess, only the naturally beautiful ones get credit here, and must say, they deserve it.

2. Every third person in Trivandrum is called Biju. My husband was the one who made this observation, but I think I agree with him. Biju is perhaps the most common name in the southern parts of Kerala. I wonder why the name is so very common. The name is not very popular towards the north though. Again, what does that name mean? Keralites are infamous for meaningless names, especially of two syllables. I could dedicate an entire post to that! But Biju is also the name of one of my closest friends, and so I will for now not make too many comments. He might as well reply with a list of infamous Reshmas!

But hey – people from other parts of India usually give their kids sensible names – so maybe I should find out how Biju Patnaik got his name to address my curiosity – what say?
Added after Googling: Biju in his name is the short form of Bijayananda – which I guess is the equivalent of Vijayanand – which has a meaning! Sigh!

3. Where do you find the nastiest people? On buses in Kerala. I am not kidding – anyone who has traveled by State/privately owned buses in Kerala (the intercity ones, not long distance) would nod their head in agreement. Your perfectly polite bus-stop companion would give Cruella a run for her money once she enters the bus. Ones who are standing curse the ones who are seated but still refuse to hold your parcel/bag (yes, they are very capable of being downright rude and refusing to help you out) only to turn into the same once they find a seat. If you lose your balance and trip or stamp on someone’s foot – may God save you!

I still have 3 days to go before I leave for Bangalore. I hope I will be able to (re)discover many more interesting facets of the place before I do. Because despite everything, I really do love my Kochi (and well, I am ok with Trivandrum too)!