Wander Woman

While I was in Kochi, I went to a lot of places to eat, courtesy my husband who is a total foodie.I'm a very fussy eater and generally dont like eating out. But nevertheless these places were awesome that I went again and again. So here is my compilation of the top places to eat in Kochi. The list is varied and includes all kinds of cuisines. 1) Kashi (Fort Kochi) - for an awesome breakfast. The food is fresh, the fruits are sweet and the ambiance chilled. 2) Jeff's - Jeff's biriyani is to die for. He doesnt sell everyday and the days that he opens up his shop the biriyani is over in hours. Theres no place to sit and eat, so you have to pack your food and eat it elsewhere.I LOVE the meatballs that he makes. 3) Kayees - Again for biriyani. Kayees serves malabar-i biriyani. I call it mallu biriyani. sample the date chutney that they serve with rice. If you go on a weekend, you might not even get a place to sit. So prepare to queue outside or better still get it packed. 4)...

Pink Fiat I've noticed that Malayalis are very fond of the colour pink. Pink shirts,pink boots and even pink houses.I've seen it in all shades and variations and its not surprising to see men sporting candy pink shirts over their mundus. However, I was taken aback when I saw this pink car.

This is a brag post.As I have mentioned before,I've shifted out of Kerala to Andaman and Nicobar islands.I'm staying at a beautiful location where I have the wide expanse of the sea right in front. Here from my living room rain coming over the sea rain coming Every morning its bright and sunny and then around mid day the sky clouds over and  rain comes tumbling down.In the last two photographs you can actually see the rain coming.

Attukal Pongala is the biggest congregation of women in India,perhaps in the world too. It is the celebration of the goddess Bhagavathy. Once a year, women from all over Kerala come to this temple, near Trivandrum, and worship the goddess. The gathering is so large that helicopters are used to shower flowers and holy water on the devotees. I was lucky to be in Trivandrum at a time when this fest was going on, though not for the entire duration. I heard that on the last day, the entire area around the temple is taken over by women and this place is used to cook payasam to offer to the goddess. Its like a mass communal cooking of payasam, which is then distributed among followers. I just had one nagging question in my mind. Its a temple of the goddess, worshipped by women and yet the priest or the person who heralds the rituals and festivals is a male. Considering that this is known as the 'sabarimala for women', wouldnt it have been appropriate to have a priestess? Here are a fe...

Due to a job transfer, I've shifted to a new place - Port Blair. Port Blair is the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar group of islands. I've explored Kerala as much as I could. Its time for Port Blair now. I'm very excited to be here, because officially I'm an islander now. Henceforth, my posts will be mixed. I would concentrate more on Andamans and things to do here, though occasionally I might write about Kerala because that'll always remain my first love. Some 500 islands constitute the Andaman and Nicobar island group.Port Blair is the capital and the largest island. My husband says that these islands are actually the top of mountains which are an extension of the Himalayan range. Also there are indigenous tribes that have resided here since ages. Someday I hope to meet them, though it is forbidden by law. Well,now that I'm here,I hope to explore more. Here's my first view of the Islands. First view of the islands blue waters

Its been a long time since I went to Kashi, one of my favourite hangout places in Fort Kochi, mainly because it was closed for renovation. Kashi is an art cafe housed in one of the 200-year-old dutch/portugese(?) buildings in Fort Kochi. Apart from the ambiance, I go there for their cheese omlettes. There are other things I like about Kashi, like they use glass bottles instead of plastic ones to store water.Like the base of their tables are  actually old sewing machines.And they grind their own coffee. Kashi, in its own way, is a patron of the arts. Every month there is an exhibition by an artist in the hall. Also, when you're at Kashi, nobody bothers you. There is no hurry to eat and scramble. Sit with your favourite book and a cup of masala chai. But the place usually is crowded, especially weekends, and so by common courtesy people do not dally for long. Kashi is located on Burgar street and is open on all days.

I fell in love with the kasavu saree the moment I laid my eyes on it.Its such a great combination of simplicity and grandeur. I used to call it the Kerala saree or Mallu saree. It was much later that I cam to know that it was called kasavu saree, kasavu being the golden border that runs along the length of the saree. This is the traditional  handloom saree that Malayali women wear for festive occasions irrespective of religion or caste. I have seen women wearing this saree for temple festivals as well as when going to church. Its a completely white saree with a thin golden border. Sometimes threads of other colours are woven along the border and sometimes there are patterns etched on the pallu. But the overall look is simple. Onam celebrations Kasavu Saree My friend told me that earlier (in days of yore), women(especially women of lower castes) were not allowed to wear an upper garment and the saree was just worn as a skirt. I believe this was the just cause of a revolution and ...