The last few months of 2016 were crazy in so many ways. First there was the money issue (when the higher denomination notes lost their value overnight) which created a mess of economic proportions. The insane queues at banks and ATM's and all the scrambling that was happening to make sense of it all, made November quite memorable.
Around the same time, Trump came out victorious which I thought was pretty hilarious... a sort of validation that people are the same everywhere, based on who we elected here.
Anyway, after the chaos of November, December came with her own brand of drama. I heard of Cyclone Nada, but I was busy in Nagercoil then enjoying a birthday party...Even that was fun, surprising the birthday girl who did not know that I was at the airport with dad. She walks up and down and I'm hiding behind the newspaper pretending to read it, then I see Manoj by her side, and they finally come out and she is hugging my dad and after that I walk up behind her and tap her on the head, she turns and screams, Kavithaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....
Then on my way back to Chennai, while I was in the train, something seemed off. Usually by 9 pm everybody goes to sleep, lights are switched off and the gentle chugging of the train is the only sound you hear. But on that day, 4th December, nobody went to sleep, everybody was glued to their phones and laptops; a few folks were talking to the TT in hushed tones. So I climbed down from my berth and walked around trying to figure out what was going on. I asked the attendant, and he said, Amma is serious, she suffered a cardiac attack and everybody is worried about the situation in Chennai tomorrow. So amidst all the hushed talk and whispering, a bunch of passengers decided to get down in Trichy in the dead of night and take another train back to Nagercoil to avoid any problems that might arise in Chennai the next morning. The rest of the passengers slowly settled down, the night gave way to day and nothing much happened. There was no high intensity theatricals as expected by the people in the train...I reached home without a hassle, the city seemed dead silent though, there weren't many people or vehicles on the roads. So anyway, the whole day passed listening to the voices on TV while we went about our jobs... and finally around 7pm and then later 11pm, Amma was finally declared dead. The end of an era, I never knew what to make of her but she had more guts and spine than most politicians. So that was the Amma saga in politics... her death is shrouded in a lot of controversies, no idea what really happened and who the next faux 'puratchi' leader will be, and what drama they will weave into our lives...
Right after amma passed away, cyclone Vardha hit us all with her maniacal fury. The raw feral power of her was captivating, window panes came crashing down, banners, roofs and trees were flying all over the place... her intense power was mind blowing. A live beast, you could hear her howling outside as she ripped through everything in her path... the whole experience was nerve-wrackingly awesome. We were without power for three days...
so the candles came out...
The tree was also set up quite early, cause there was nothing else to do...
Then it was Christmas...wore an ikat saree for the midnight service.
After Christmas celebrations, we (me & Jen) boarded a train to Bangalore to spend a few days with Nam and Jude...
Christmas in Bangalore
Candlelights, Christmas ale and the cold night air... memories are made of stuff like this...
Then we took a train back home,..
And it was epic when the boys came on 31st....the entire family was home together after 5 years. It couldn't get better than this... here I'm pouring champagne after the New Year's midnight mass...
Christmas in Nagercoil
Nativity scene ...
So December with all its great and epic times gave way to 2017... and so far the activity hasn't ceased. We went to watch the sun rise at the beach...
and meditated too...
Then there was a baptism to attend... wore a dark blue saree for the ceremony.
Every Pongal, The Hindu organises the Literary fest... which is quite engaging. It was nice listening to Shashi Tharoor, Kanhaiya Kumar, Perumal Murugan and a host of other literary figures. Compared to the authors and writers who spoke, the politicians seem more fluent, witty and engaging, they are never at a loss for words. It was the same last year too, when Omar Abdullah had come down...
Then the jallikattu protests erupted over the state, which I couldn't really understand... not many people have witnessed a jallikattu event, yet they all joined together for the protest. I mean, banning jallikattu seems rather drastic, let the people have fun with their farm animals, why ban that... I understand that there are instances where the animals are provoked and tortured, so the best thing to do would be to enforce rules in the sport, not ban it. Generally, people revere their animals here, I've seen it.. they tend to take care of them. If the PETA and anybody else is really interested in animal welfare, then please ban fireworks first during Diwali, I'm pretty sure more animals and countless humans are affected by that every year. You see how it is... even the protests, do something for the farmers ... they are committing suicide nationwide...
Okay, I've written enough... wishing you peace always... have a great and exciting year everybody.
P.S: How could I forget about Sherlock!!!! Well, after ages they came back with a new season, and I really don't know what to make of it... it was a bit too melodramatic. But Sherlock is still rave worthy, the abominable bride was better than this current season though...
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