X mas 2010

This Xmas was a special one. Not just because this is the first Christmas after we got married but because I got to go to a lot of places in a window of 2 days.
Compared to last Xmas when I spent the entire week locked up in Bentonville with a shroud of snow all around this one was just perfect.
I am not someone who loves to travel a lot. In fact if I travel for a day I need a day off to compensate the tiredness. But this time we took regular halts so it was not as tiring as I thought it would be.
Thiruvairanikulam temple in Aluva made us stand in a queue for 4 long hours. But the sight of the diety was worth the pain of such a long waiting..Not just that there were many philosophies learnt in that 4 hours of waiting with practical experiences. . Well more of it I have written elsewhere , so not repeating it here.
The stay in Trissur was a good break. The hotel was a luxurious one and it gave us a good place to relax before the next day. The live updates of Karunakaran’s cremation was there in all the channels . I was confused if I should be happy for not being a celebrity. Not everyone gets a chance to get even the cremation broadcasted with its details… But would it really matter after death ? And more over , is cremation not a personal thing ? Would anyone ( however great) prefer the whole world to see his mortal remains burning away ? Well , since I strongly believed against broadcasting a cremation I chose not to watch TV that evening.
The next day we went to Thirumanthankunnu temple and akathupurathu temple. The highlight was the chance to visit the Poonthanam Illam now maintained by the Guruvayur Devaswam. The myths and stories still hover around the place and you can see them all played back again with the help of your imagination.
The narrow steps which is to be ascended with the help of a hanging rope , the table on which Jnanapana was written , the Pathayapura , the old rooms … They had the finger prints of Time all over them. It was an amazing experience.
Bharathapuzha was another achievement. It was a long accomplished desire when my husband stopped the car by the river side for us to get a better glimpse of the river. Except for the loads of dirt and abandoned plastic wastes, the river was very much like the one they show in movies.

Kerala Kalamandalam , though we only stood in front of the gates and posed for photographs was a good experience .
It was a long journey back to home. We had to go for a marriage two hours after we reached Trivandrum. . . The next day it was the same old story of things awaiting us back in office.