Movie Review: Celluloid

This weekend we finally ended our drought of watching movies in the theater. Not that we were not watching new, good movies - there are still good movies from 2012 that we have caught and are waiting to catch on DVD. I'll give you a list of recommendations at the end of this review.

Now to head to Celluloid - it has been making news as THE movie to watch for some months now. As you may know, it is the story of the first ever Malayalam movie and what went behind it. We've all heard  of the "JC Daniel Lifetime Achievement Award" given by the State of Kerala, but did you know that it is given in the name of a man who achieved nothing but financial ruin and neglect in his lifetime? He was given his rightful place in Malayalam movie history due to the efforts of ardent cinematic history lovers only about 70 years after his first and only movie was made.

Celluloid is not just the story of a man who wanted to bring this new artistic form into his state. It is also a window into a socially dark era that was bound by caste and creed differences. It is at the same time so terrifying and so heartening to view those incidents on celluloid (or digital form!) and know that although they still do exist, those demons are much more tamed now - dangerous yet, yes, but not showing all their fangs and riding roughshod over the whole society. One cannot but wonder at the enthusiasm and persistence of a man who will go to literally any end to learn a new art form and create one of his own literally from scratch. It is perhaps well that his story was not known widely, one wonders how many budding filmmakers would have lost heart if they had come to know how this first Malayalam filmmaker (and first leading actor too!) fared in his life. But then I think, true artists cannot but help following their Muse where it leads them!

Director Kamal has walked the narrow path between documentary and feature film pretty well, achieving the fine balance in telling the story that might have degenerated into maudlin drama easily. There are humorous moments, tense moments and exciting moments galore. The cast consisting of Prithviraj, Mamta, Sreenivasan etc., have done an exemplary job. Prithvi as JC Daniel richly deserves the award for Best Actor for the homework he has put in - it must have been refreshing for him to essay this role after playing a taciturn hunk in Aiyaa. Chandni - a fresh face - does justice to her role as the first heroine of Malayalam cinema.

Much more than just the entertainment value that this movie provides, it makes me grateful for the personal freedoms that we enjoy in this time and age. My sentiments were amply echoed in the applause and sighs of the rest of the audience. We had had an inkling of the standard of the audience that had come to watch the movie when my DH observed that the four-time repetition of the Polio vaccine ad did not invoke the customary catcalls.

Do go and watch Celluloid!!

My recommendations for recent Malayalam movies to watch on DVDs:

Ozhimuri: Directed by Madhupal. If Celluloid was not around, this movie would have won the award for best film. I had wanted to watch this movie, but it was shown only in one theater and stayed for only a week. Thank God for DVDs. I cannot watch it enough for its setting, its language, its history and its brilliant psychological analysis and a brilliant cast. Must watch.

Chapters: A "newgen" movie that has an interesting format, and intriguing storyline. Good for one watch.

Jawan of Vellimala: A Mammootty starrer that was thoroughly massacred by critics - but which we found to be okay for one watch at least. We certainly didn't feel like that it was a total disappointment. 

Trivandrum Lodge: We avoided this movie in theatres because our kids did not appreciate being left behind when we went to see 22, Female, Kottayam. But we thoroughly enjoyed the movie on DVD. 

Black Friday: The story of the adventures four different groups of people go through in the space of one day in verdant Alleppey. Good for one watch.

Arike: Has the feel of a novel set in the 80s. Syamaprasad's latest is more food for the mind than the heart, but still manages to touch somewhere. Although the movie moves forward to a foregone conclusion, the path it takes remains obscure and delights in its unique twists and turns.

Kochi Muziris Biennale!

I had read about the "art explosion" happening in Kochi since first news of the Biennale started appearing in the papers last year, but was not particularly interested in it. That was till the week before last when I came across this post in Chai n' Spice, Sunita Mohan's delightful blog. I was hooked the moment I saw her wonderful pictures and when I read that she had come all the way from Mumbai to take in the art exhibition, I felt a twinge. The twinge grew into an itch when I saw that the biennale would conclude on March 13. Within a day or two, I had made an appointment with one of my dearest friends Tessa who lives in Kochi and we decided to have a "girls only" day out in the lovely environs of Fort Kochi (not because our DHs refused to have any thing to do with art, oh no!)

So last Sunday, instead of sleeping in, there I was on the  6 a.m. Shatabdi train to Kochi. My art viewing started when I was on the train itself, catching a vignette of the dappled waters of the Anchuthengu lake through a lovely frame of coconut trees and distant hills and colored by the lovely rising sun. Within four hours I had met my friend and her cousin and we were crossing the Venduruthy bridge into Kochi. As we trundled along the narrow roads and gasped each time another bus passed in the opposite direction almost skinning our bus, people were thronging the several churches on the way to their Sunday devotions. By the time the bus reached its final destination, the Fort Kochi bus stand, we were the only three passengers left. A few questions led us to the ticket booth for the biennale.

For those who intend to go there, the official biennale site is useless when it comes to what to do and where to go. So here's the lowdown. Tickets are available at the Aspinwall venue in Fort Kochi as well at the Durbar Hall venue in Ernakulam. These are the main venues and here is a list the others - except Pepper House and Moidu Heritage building

The Aspinwall House has the largest number and variety of exhibits. We took almost 4 hours to just have a cursory look at most of the exhibits there. Word of warning: wear your most comfy pair of shoes - there is a lot of walking and step-climbing involved. We got our tickets and the mandatory map of the northern tip of Fort Kochi where all the venues except Durbar Hall are located.

For a Sunday morning, we were early and there were only a few other art enthusiasts. The very first exhibit was Done and Dusted: a video installation that was described thus: (sorry for not capturing the English version here)

The inside was too bizarre to describe. There were two huge suspended inverted copper cauldrons into which the faces of two elderly men were projected. One simply kept rolling his eyes from time to time and the other sneezed and yawned alternately. In the intervals between eye-rolling and  the rest, a table with sundry objects laid on it between the two men vibrated so hard that we were sure the things would fall off. We were at first a little scared and then startled into laughing aloud. I hope the artist was not anywhere near us, he would have been flabbergasted to see his interpretation of the "discrepancies in archeology" and his depiction of the "confusion engendered by the questioning of our origins" being subjected to irreverent laughter. It was a good thing that the artist's interpretation of each exhibit  was given alongside most of the works, because we couldn't make head or tail out of most. For example, take this huge intallation that covered a whole wall:

I loved the technique - you can see what I mean by looking  at this closeup:

The  "pixels" are pictures of shop signs and these were used to create the pictures in mosaic fashion. The bottom of the painting looks like a classic painting. My interpretation of the piece was "the job was so tedious so i stuck them all up higgledy-piggledy after the first few rows". This sent my friends into a paroxysm of laughter that caused an earnest young man with an official tag to ask me very seriously if I had got the meaning of the work. I sincerely hope it was not the artist!

But then there were some that took our breath away by sheer beauty and simplicity like this gossamer web - who cared what its meaning was????

I was overjoyed to see Vivek Vilasini's famous "Last Supper - Gaza" in the repertoire!

Now that's MY idea of high art! 

An installation of "post card paintings" that had absolutely lovely prose on them was another favorite of mine. I wish I could have each of those postcards to read over and over.

And this would be a splendid idea to try in a garden:

The insides of the shells were painted in different hues, punctured and scored to make patterns - I could have spent a whole morning under them, looking at each shell and watching the sky through them...

Obviously I cannot show you all the things that I loved at the biennale - you have to see it for yourself. I will post more pictures in subsequent posts. You can see more pics of street art and the exhibits at Pepper House over at Chai n' Spice.   

Let me leave you with some more pointers if you intend to visit the biennale:

1. Carry plenty of water. There are water dispensers at the Aspinwall House, but nowhere else.

2. Try to have food at mainland Ernakulam - the Fort Kochi eateries fell into two categories: grossly overpriced and simply gross.

3. Photography is allowed everywhere, videography is not.

4. Try and watch Gitanjali Rao's "Printed Rainbow" a Cannes prize winning short film in its entirety. Don't miss it.

5. Don't be confined by the artist's interpretation of each piece - make up your own interpretations, don't be scared! Don't take the installations too seriously. After all one of the purposes of art - if it has any purpose at all - is to entertain!

6. Catch the government ferry to and from Ernakulam and Fort Kochi - lovely! Cost - Rs. 2.50 per person each way!!

7. Keep your eyes open when you go about - lovely paintings jump out everywhere - not just the main venues - see what I mean?

As I took the evening Shatabdi back to Thiruvananthapuram, I was treated to yet more displays of the works of the Greatest Artist of All. Isn't it wonderful that we Malayalis can have our fill of nature's beauty by just taking a 3 hour-train ride! Wow!

Is this what parenting is all about?

Hmm.. it feels weird to be typing without the help of my left forefinger. I'm having to hit the backspace button a lot. For the past two days I've been nursing a grievous knife injury to the tip of that finger and I've adopted a "bless-the-world" gesture holding that hand away from all accidental contact with anything. I may also call it my "beacon of hope" gesture because of the huge white bandage that provides extra cushioning...

But where were we, aah, the question of what parenting is all about... this question was brought about by a recent event.

Last weekend, our Anikkuttan's school was celebrating its annual day. The hero was appearing in two solo performances (reciting the names of months and a song) and a group dance. I was in charge of making him practice the solo pieces at home. The song was "Ambalappuzhe" from Adwaitham and it was heard at Karthi ad nauseam till now we all are ready to flee if any one starts singing that song again.

So the big day dawned and DH, Kunjunni and I were seated in the second row eagerly awaiting the first stage performance of the youngest member of our family. When "Nidhin Rajesh - Cinematic Song" was announced, I was all a-flutter as though I were to be on the stage. Kunjunni, who fortunately doesn't know the meaning of the word "stage fright" confessed that his heart was going pit-a-pat at the thought of his young brother performing. DH was the only one who looked stoic among us. Soon the curtain went up. There the little guy was, all smart in a kasavu mundu  and blue khadi jubba . There was a pregnant pause and this was heard, "Good afternoon everybody! I am Nidhin Rajesh. I am going to tell you the names of..."

We were all aghast. He finished his speech. His teacher came on stage and whispered in his ear and went back. We waited in nervous anticipation - "Good afternoon everybody, I am Nidhin Rajesh..." 

"Oh no, not again!" went his brother! As his little speech wound to an end again, he looked back at his teacher who gestured to him to sing. But he shook his head and refused. He was NOT going to sing. As we tittered nervously the curtain went down on the poor guy. Little did we know that the drama had only started...

Parents had been forbidden from entering the makeup room for the duration of the program, so we knew something was amiss when Ani was brought to us by a teacher. He wanted to see us and go home. He didn't want to stay for the dance program or any of the rest of the programs. I went and soothed him at first and sent him back along with the teacher. Five minutes later, he was back on his own. This time his father went along to encourage him and persuade him to get dressed for the next program. Ten minutes later, DH calls me admitting defeat and thinks it might be better for all of us to leave.

Okay, Momma to the rescue again: the recalcitrant performer had resisted all of his father's persuasion including threats and was seated on a desk. I decided to play good cop and went along these lines,

"Hey, we are all waiting to see you dance. It's ok if you didn't sing. Your speech was very good. Let's go and change!"

"No, I wanna go home!"

"I hear the costume is very nice (heard nothing of the sort). Shall we go and take a look?"

"No, I wanna go HOME!"

"Your friends will all feel sad if they can't dance with you. Even your teacher will feel sad!"

"I wanna go home"

At that moment I tried a different track. I huffed and puffed and said: "Ok, we are going out to have PIZZA after the program. You won't even get a SLICE!"

The little guy shrugged his shoulders and slid off the desk saying, ''Oh, okaaaay. I will go and dance"

As soon as I had picked up my lower jaw from the floor, dusted it off and put it back, I followed him to the make up room (where all the mothers were already there) and helped him into a Punjabi style costume which he absolutely loved. Thereafter, he was thoroughly happy with me fussing over his costume and turban, picked up his dance props and went along with his mates for the program. Once he was on stage, there was no hesitancy, no mistake, he only held his face a little sideways because he felt a little shy. He even managed a tiny wave to us in the middle of the dance and we three beamed with pride and laughter. Oh the sheer relief!!!!

Which brings me back to my original question: Is this what parenting is all about? Learning which button to push at the right time?????

Another birthday and how I tamed a wee beastie

Yet another year goes by and I said goodbye to the previous year with some yuuuuuummy black forest cake...

And ushered in the new year the very next day with some nectar-like palpayasam from Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple - aah, the advantage of having an official birthday and a star birthday!!! And this year, both fell on consecutive days too!

DH has bought me a huge gift that fills me both with the tingles of anticipation and tremors of anxiety.  Here's a sneak peek. Can you guess what it is?

 Can't guess? Anyone who called me on my birthday knows by now. So let me show it to you...

Yup, it's a gently-used almost-two-year-old scooter.  This is the beastie that I have been learning to tame since last September.

The last time I tried to master this skill was when I was 27 and just married. DH and DSIL decided one fine morning that I needed to learn how to drive a scooter. DSIL's trusty Kinetic Honda was pressed into service. My masters selected an excellent beginner's course for me - if they had chosen the moon's most asteroid-pitted patch they could not have done better. As I straddled the scooter for the first time, I gazed out upon a bouldery incline with all sizes of stones from the minuscule to the gigantic. My first challenge was to drive the scooter up a slight incline and get to the next level where an even steeper incline awaited me. My DSIL helpfully pointed out the throttle to me and stepped aside while DH (brave soul that he is) beckoned me encouragingly from my target point. As I gingerly gave some power, the scooter barely made it over a fist-sized stone immediately before me. So my instructors told me to open the throttle as much as I could in order to go up the incline. In doing so they also made a tiny novice-instructor mistake – kind of like Arjuna did. So a la Abhimanyu, I went up the incline majestically in full throttle, crossed my intended path and slammed into the stone wall opposite and gently toppled to one side – yup, they had just omitted to tell me when to brake...

Damage - a  little paint off the scooter, a bit of paint off my knees and a hideously swollen ring finger. The wall looked ok to me. 

Fast forward 10 years and last September, DH leaned heavily on me to learn to drive a scooter once again in the totally altruistic cause of making me independent transport-wise. This time he generously offered to pay for lessons so that whatever spills I took and vehicles and walls I damaged would be the school's responsibility. DSIL did offer to send me her Kinetic by train, but I politely declined.  My gallant steed on the first day of class was a battered Pleasure which was missing its headlights and several other things. My instructor helpfully walked behind me holding on to the handle behind while I hopped and bumped with both feet on the ground. The second day my teacher left me to my own devices and I went for several rounds of walking with the scooter around the yard. On the third day I put up my left foot on the floor board, but it had this tendency to jump off at the slightest wobble. By the fifth day I astonished myself by being able to put both feet on the floor board and managing to stay on course even though I wobbled horribly and was in imminent danger of driving into the boundary wall or the house on several occasions. However, the Pleasure was done for. Over the next several weeks, his throttle was so shot that either I had to push the scooter up and down the yard or it was stuck at full throttle when one had to just use the brake to drive the scooter. Those were the dangerous days when my fellow-students and I held our lives in our hands while trying to tame the Pleasure.

Fed up by the temperamental throttle and inexplicable swoons, our instructor finally got us a new vehicle - a TVS XL HD. Trying it  out, I realized for the first time that one didn't have to strain one's arms and shoulders trying to turn a scooter and that the wind in one's face is quite enjoyable. But I was destined for the next torture - The 8!!! By this time, I had had a gap of a month from my earlier study period and although I could zip around the yard without incident, for two weeks I could do nothing but again go into my crawling mode as I went round and round among the iron bar markers making no progress. Several of my fellow students were in the same predicament as I was and we sat together wondering whether we'd ever be able to accomplish at least one 8 to save our lives. Reports also came in of several students failing at the DMV's test at 8s. I was almost ready to give up when one fine day I astonished myself and my compatriots by completing one 8 without putting down my foot even once! I was so surprised and elated that I let out a whoop that resounded through the whole neighborhood! After that I've got to the point where I can take several 8s continuously.

So now here I am, looking forward to my test date with a scooter of my own, waiting to take it out for a practice run as soon as we get a chance to take it to the local temple and have a pooja done. Yep, I've got a pretty cool helmet too. If you come over next weekend, you can see me trying out my new scooter skills at the Maruppancode ground, early in the morning! 

And it all goes to show - any old dog can learn new tricks!!!

This post is dedicated to any one who thinks that they are too long in the tooth to learn something new. It might take a bit more practice and a little more time, but you can do it!!!!

Live each day, fully, one at a time!

Some days things crowd up so much that it becomes difficult to breathe - literally. One has to sit still then and take time to savor each minute that goes by. And such moments are when I turn to the easiest stress-busters of all that are right here on my computer: old pictures.

Take this one, for instance:

This was taken on a serene evening in Coorg back in 2003. DH and I were on our first trip together after our wedding. I remember sitting in the city park. We had taken loads of pictures of every beautiful vista on terra firma when we discovered that we could just sit on a bench, point our camera upwards and capture several masterpieces from the show above us. Somehow, I like this series much better than any picture we took on that trip!

Now this one was taken in Detroit, in fall 2005:

We were billeted at an extended stay hotel for 2 months and were desperate for a library membership. In front of the library was this gorgeous maple in the full yellow and red glory of fall. It had also carpeted most of the lawn in front of the library with its largess. We plonked Kunjunni right in the middle and started snapping like crazy. It's one of our favorite pics of our first-born.

Now this picture - although it looks like any touristy snap in front of the Niagara waterfall...

...reminds me of how thankful we should be for having arrived safe and sound in Niagara on that Thanksgiving Day.

We started from Detroit early in the morning when snow was being removed and soon drove into a bitter snow storm even before we reached the Canadian border. We had no snow chains and saw quite a few vehicles that had turned all the way around and were stranded in our lane and on the other side of the divider.

Halfway along, DH felt a craving for some chewing gum which, unfortunately was stowed in the boot. We were driving very slowly and DH eased the car on to the shoulder of the highway - or at least that was his intention. We ended up yards away from where we had intended to stop and were poised precariously on a downward slope in a heavy snow drift!

Panic set in and we thought of calling emergency services when I suggested that we should try reversing the car. To our relief, the came back up, I retrieved the gum from the boot and our trip was henceforth uneventful. While we unwound at our hotel, I turned on the TV to find out that there had been scores of accidents on that stretch of highway that morning and we were part of the luckier ones who came out unscathed.

This picture was taken in 2006, in Duluth MN. It's one of the most beautiful places I have visited on this big, blue marble. It literally took our breath away when we found that even at the end of May, the wind that blew off Lake Superior was very chilly. We hadn't packed any warm clothes, so had to buy some! It was one of our best road trips to date. I can't imagine how cold it would be in mid-winter in Duluth. But in summer, she was magnificent!

There, I feel better already. Thanks for coming with me on this trip down memory lane!

An organizing tip for digital pictures: The path to one of my typical picture folders looks like this: Photos -- 2012 -- 0329MeenaBharani.  From this I can easily find out the pictures we took during the Meena Bharani festival of 2012 in this folder and can make out that it was on the 29th of March that year. Naming this way also means that the folders are arranged in chronological order too. All I have to do to maintain this is to spend an extra minute to think of the date and an appropriate name for the folder when I download pics. On my comp you can find years from 2002 to 2013 in the same folder format. It makes finding pics super-duper easy! Hope this tip helps!

Happy New 2013!!!

Yup, yup, yup, I've been having perfection issues again at notsoperfectkarthi as in, "What would be the perfect xmas/year-end/new year post???"  Result? A no-show at Xmas, year-end and New Year. I know so many of you might have been looking forward to those ever so humorous and witty posts from moi, sorry I couldn't oblige! :-) (A little confidence goes quite a loooonggg way, huh?)

But first of all, let me wish you all,  my dearest wonderful readers, a very happy new year! May all your days hide twinkling gems of immense value that will reveal themselves to you through the course of the day, making you gasp with wonder and prompt you to send up prayers of thankfulness. I wish that for one and all of you and for the whole world! So go find that particular gem/s for the day and make a note of them each day so that when 2014 comes by, you will have a bowlful of those lovelies to marvel at.

In case you are wondering whether I have gone bonkers, I have been looking back at 2012 with my treasure-seeker's eyes and have come up with quite a lot to feel thankful for. I did this because the month of December and even New Year's day have brought us some not-so-good news. I have been thinking of how to react as positively as I can to each.

To the Nirbhaya case: probably suggest legalizing prostitution (not my idea, Swami Vivekananda's actually) or to suggest importing women from other countries to improve the sex-ratio (why should innocent girls be penalized for rampant female foeticides?). To my Mom's cancer diagnosis: forgive her for  having known about a lump and not paid much attention to it for six years and get her as much help as early as possible. To the death of a neighboring young man in a bike accident right after the birth of the new year: send up prayers for the safe return to home of each  youngster who speeds by me.

One of the first things I did on New Year's day was to take down all our Xmas decorations and stow them away safely. I did it although I will miss the riot of twinkling lights that greeted me each December morning as I came into my dark living room. It made me smile each time I looked at them. Bye bye Xmas tree, see you in 11 months!

Could there BE any more tinsel up there? :-)

I also put away my old diary after a cursory look-through. There are several blank pages as usual, the sick days, the so-so days, but not a red-letter day was missed even if I had to sit down and write it several days later!

Which brings us to my new diary and day book:

Isn't it so appropriate that the diary I chose back in November (looking as usual for just the features like month-at-a-glance and full page for Sunday) should say Think Positive and Be Positive on the cover - the universe has sign-posts everywhere!!! As I had told you, last year's theme was gratitude! And each page of that new diary will be divvied up like this:

As you can guess, it's my next step in increasing my productivity and not forgetting anything essential each day. I started the habit in November when I saw the idea for some day planner pages with similar categories in a website. I thought, "Why print out those pages when I don't even fill up half my diary pages each day?" So I started writing out a simplified version in my diary. It's been very effective! All my planning and day's summing up in one place as well as my expenses!

The best sight I had on New Year's Day was this:

- all three guys in my life snuggling happily two hours after I was up and pottering about. This is another sight that is guaranteed to turn my heart to mush each time I see it. And how blessed am I to be able to see it almost every day!!

Happy New Year once again!

Did you watch the meteor showers?

Yesterday I came across an article about the Geminid meteor shower that was predicted to peak on the 13th and 14th of December. So when my alarm chirped in the morning at 4 am as usual, I brushed my teeth, informed a groggy DH of my whereabouts, made a scalding cuppa tea and made my way to our terrace. The article had warned me of the visibility sapping effects of "visual pollution", which would mean man-made light in this context. I spied some bright light in the northwestern and southern quarters (from a KSEB substation and power grid respectively), but since the Geminids were predicted to appear in the eastern sky, I put down my cuppa and sat down resolutely facing the east.

How many of us deliberately look up at the night sky and how often do we do it? The maximum I notice is the full moon at times, but it mostly happens when it accidentally pops in front of my eyes while we are driving in the night time. One of my fondest childhood memories is "chasing" the moon by roaming all over the backseat of my parents' car as the moon changed its position during our drive over the mostly desert area of the road stretch between Dammam and Al-Khobar. In 2008, I happened upon a curious formation of   two stars and the crescent moon that looked exactly like a slightly lop-sided smiley. It kinda looked like this:

We were returning from hospital fetching my Mom who had just sacrificed a toe on the altar of diabetes and I took the astronomical phenomenon as sign for me to cheer up again. I remember drawing the same in my diary that night. That my vision was not a chimera was proved by pictures in the next day's newspaper.

To return to this morning, I was struck all of a heap to see the literally star -studded sky. I could make out Ursa Major and Ursa Minor pretty well. Now before your mind boggles at my astronomical knowledge, let me tell you that those are the ONLY constellations I know and that too just because they look like sauce pans! I think I can also recognize the Pole star, but it could be quite a different one in a true star-gazer's opinion. So there I was, my tea cooling rapidly in the chilly morning - I had fortunately had the foresight to wear a woolen hat and wrap up my throat with a thorthu - while I gaped at the marvelous show above me. 

I sat there for five minutes and started feeling slightly foolish because I hadn't noticed anything yet. And that is when I saw something dart in my right peripheral vision. Yes!!!!! It was my first real shooting star!! (The only shooting star I've seen before this was in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai). And then when I gazed at that spot, there went one on my left!

After counting about five shooting stars, I spotted a sixth one approaching from the north. Compared to the previous ones, this was quite slower and was traveling almost horizontally with a brighter light. I went, "What a super meteor!" when a faint rumble reached my ears. I guess it must have been an early flight from Mumbai coming in to land. Oh well! As time slowly passed and my count increased, I noticed that the meteorites were shifting position to directly above me. So I stretched out on my back on the chilly terrace with my arms under my head. 

In the meanwhile I noticed the world waking up. A neighbor's speaking clock chimed five and then informed its family of the hour. A few seconds later, MS Subbalakshmi exhorted Venkatesa and all around us to "Wake up and get up" from our Maruppancode temple speakers. I could have lain there for ever and ever. But right after my twelfth shooting star an almighty sneeze bolted me upright. I also began to feel the discomforts of certain effects that my morning cuppa had put into motion (get the pun?). So I cut short my astronomical observations for the time being and groped my way down the steep iron stairs. A little visual pollution or at least a torch would have been handy at that moment, but I made it down in one piece. I hope I can catch another meteor shower soon!!!