Pampered Memories

If anyone were to ask me where I like to spend my free time in Kannur, I have only one answer and that is the Cannanore Cantonment area. Over the years many of my evenings were spent at the tranquil shores of Baby Beach , Payyambalam Beach and light house walkway enjoying the silence of the breeze watching the horizon merging with the sea as the sun swirls down . Cannanore Cantonment is the only cantonment in Kerala and is one out of the 62 in India.  It houses the barracks of defense security corps and the 122 infantry battalion of the Territorial Army. Some of the areas are not accessible to the general public due to military and security reasons ,but memories of visiting the serene ‘old baby beach’ in the protected area many years back with my parents is still etched in my mind. Driving through the Wellesley road in Burnassery( formerly Burnshire) gives an elated feeling with its lush green and clean surroundings and colonial buildings interlaced with modern bungalows on e...

Marco Polo of Venice was one of the earliest foreign travelers to visit India in the 13th century. He called the Malabar Coast as “an emporia of spice trade”. With vast areas of plantations, this God’s Own land was known for its natural plantations. People from all over the world came here in search of Black Gold (pepper), cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg etc. The spices of this coast were pure and expensive that only the wealthy could afford them. They were used as aromatics, which seasoned the delicacies served at European, African and Arab banquets. They were also used as medicines, as seen in the writings of Hippocrates. Bay leaves (or laurel) were woven into crowns for Olympic heroes, spice-scented balm were used after baths in Rome and Cordoba, spice-flavored wines were popular in Europe and incense made of spice was burned in temples in ancient Babylon. Our ancestors used the spices extensively in their cuisine making it mouth watering but healthy too. When we talk about spices, ...

Born and brought up in a family of club footballers of 1970s, cricket was an alien sport for me in early school days. It was football and football all over the maidans and fields of Kannur . Kannur also known as the Mecca of football in India was famous for the number of open maidans it had. The sprawling Kota maidan was once a cradle for many of the former National and International footballers. It was also our school playground where I have lot of memories about not only watching others play but also playing this great sport. My childhood reminiscences about football also include the long journeys with my Uncle to see Sait Nagjee Trophy at Kozhikode and Nehru Cup at Cochin many a time. I had seen Gavaskar, Gundappa Viswanath , Kapil dev and Kirmanis name in the newspapers , but never bothered to read about them . But, without fail I always followed the results of Calcutta Football League, Durand Cup, Federation cup etc. I remember most students of our school used to play footbal...

21 August 1989 reloaded First time I heard of a place called ‘Chidambaram’ was from G Aravindan’s National award winning movie by the same name. In one scene the heroine, Sivagami ( Smitha patil) dictates her address as 15 Ammapet, Chidambaram . The storyline ends with the protagonist Bharat Gopi , a wanderer who in his travels while repenting for his sins accidently meets the heroine who is a shoe keeper at the Gopuram doors of the famous Nataraja temple at Chidambara m. My destiny to reach this place was not for any solace, but for the tryst to learn dentistry at the largest residential university in Asia. Annamalai University started in 1929 and has about 50 departments and over 500 courses under the facultie s of Arts, Science, Indian Languages, Fine Arts, Engineering and Technology, Education, Agriculture, Medicine and Dentistry . August 21. 1989, the first day of our college. We were told to sit in the lecture hall for the Dean’s welcome address. With a lot of new ...

On this wet rainy morning , I got a watsapp message from one of my friend asking about the genuineness of the post received about “Operation Sulaimani” of Kozhikode . Operation Suleimani was a mind blowing initiative started by the former District Collector Dr Prasanth, fondly called as “Collector Bro” by the Kozhikkodikars . Operation Suleimani feeds anyone who is hungry for free , in other words nobody goes hungry in this city , be it the poorest, or not so poor , you or me . People in need can collect food coupons and walk into any of the 125 plus restaurants and free food will be served without any questions . It is funded through the small contributions from the people of Kozhikode . Truly a great humanitarian gesture sans bounderies . Eventhough I’m from “Politically Vibrant Kannur” , I always admired my neighbouring district for their warmth,hospiality , the genuineness and the aura and flavor of Kozhikode . I always wondered what makes them different . Historically Kozhi...

   A s the flight took off from the Red sea coast of Jeddah, after my pilgrimage at Makkah last Monday, my mind started rewinding to the time I first landed in the Arab land in early 2000 for a professional career.   Some things have not changed as the years passed.   Coming from the culture which teaches and practices ‘Adithi Devo Bhava’, my experience of yet again facing the arrogant and curt ordering of passengers by Saudi emigration officers was too insulting to be ignored.   All the niceties of speech, smile and body language were missing then and now.   Thereafter lot of vivid memories crossed my mind. As I boarded my maiden flight journey my mind was full of fear, not only because of my acrophobia and flight turbulences but also because of the stories I’ve heard about the   Arabs and their   strict laws . Landing at Riyadh International Airport, the people in white thobes (long white traditional dress) seemed like camels moving. Outs...

                                                                    A s I drive past the Kannur Navarathri Celebrations at the town Square, my mind took me back to the navarathri celebrations at Kannur in the late 70s. . For nine Days Kannur transforms into a mega stage for music and dance performances of different kinds. Musicians and music lovers dash from one venue to the other to participate in concerts. High profile singers like Yesudas and SPB used to take part in concerts at Muneeshwaran Koil. Most of   the shops in the Kannur Town will be decorated with bulbs and flickering lights, Kannur Muncipality used to give prizes for the best decorated establishments. By evening Pillayar Koil Road and Station Road will bent  e blocked with people thronging from all sides to see the pomp and glory of the cel...

A f ter two political murders at Kannur last week , some trollers, print ,visual and social media activists are busy making fun of Kannur and Kannur-kars .Some have gone to the extend of saying "Take Kannur and give back Pok " .We Kannur-kars has taken it only as joke from a ‘ bunch of Jokers’. We Kannur-kars are proud of our rich heritage, tradition , history and political past which is unparalleled by any other district in Kerala . This northern district has contributed immensely to the nation building . The first great resistance against British invasion came from the hills of Kannur district under the leadership of Pazhassi Raja who fought tooth and nail , when other princely states in Travancore- Kochi were busy signing pacts with the invaders for making their chairs and beds safe .. Tipus malabar conquest was resisted by our people and was not able to make any inroads here. Kannur or cannanore had a rich and diversive history. When the foriegn travelers who came here f...

                                                       1997 September - I was a PG student at Annamalai University, It was raining heavily. It had started the previous afternoon and was pouring continuously without a break.   As usual there was no power supply in the hostel.     It was about 3 AM and I couldn’t sleep and was turning on both sides.   The mosquitoes and Chidambaram trailer bugs were having a feast with my blood. I heard a soft knock at the door, but I didn’t respond because of a fear which everyone feels when they hear knocking at odd hours and that too when alone. As the knocking continued, I heard a voice calling Sirrr. That voice was very familiar. I opened the door and in the light of the candle I saw Selvaraj , fully drenched. Selvaraj was our college bus cleaner. A thin guy with short built and a br...

                                                            Though each and everyday is remarkable for me, my school days are always unforgettable and the most memorable to me. My batch mates were known as smart, intelligent, bookish, studious, dumb, naughty, stupid etc etc . But I belonged to a group known as “fatties” (thadiyans). I was not very tall, but was plump and overweight when compared to my feeble and frail batch mates History shows us that overweight kids are always subject to abuse. The story was not di fferent at our school either. We fatties were picked on constantly by our peers. We were rarely spared. Our complaint to the teachers was mostly met with deaf ears. Some teachers would compassionately tell us to report of it when it happens the next time!! When we tried to gain sympathy from our parents, their sincere ad...

Yesterday , a small fight with my neice Achu for the TV remote control to see the cricket match brought back memories of the days when the whole family religiously sat together and watched the only channel available in those times – Doordarshan . Even though the telecast used to start at 6 PM, the whole family would be in front of the TV by 8 PM . The women finished their work and dinner was served mostly in front of the TV. By 9 PM the kitchen will be closed for the Soap operas. The characters in the mega serial Buniyaad , Yeh joh hai zindagi , Nukkad, Hum Log are still fresh in our memories and their title songs still reverberate in the ears . Even though none of my family members were well versed in Hindi, we never missed any of the episodes.     On Mondays, we used to wait for a Malayalam song in Chitramala which used to show 4-5 songs from Non Hindi languages. Sometimes our wait would extend for 2-3 weeks hoping that the next one will show a Malayalam song, but mos...

Li ke any malayali parent, my parents also dreamt of their son becoming a doctor by qualifying through the entrance exams . I wrote many exams but my rank was nowhere near the qualifying mark . So my parents decided to send me to Madras so that I can join entrance coaching classes in Brilliant Tutorials . On a hot summer afternoon in 1988 , I boarded the No 2 Mangalore Madras mail from Cannanore for a 755 km journey with my Uncle. After 16 hours, we reached Madras Central . The station was different from any other railway station I had seen till then .The railway station having 8 platforms with scores of people moving around and the noises from public address system and the crowd was something new for a person who was born and brought up in a small town . My uncle took me to the restaurant in the first floor of the railway station, from there I had the first real view of Madras with buses , cars and autos moving around in different direction . Madras fascinated me , but I ne...