RGB Monday

 Colorful kolams from the neighborhood that was drawn for Pongal.

These are kolams drawn by my childhood friend Karthi's wife! She is a talented woman who does well in the arts. I have shared her Pongal kolams already here in 2021. Last year she didn't draw anything, and when I think about why I remember that she was pregnant then and now a mother of a 7- or 8-month-old cute baby girl. I met the baby a couple of times when I went for an evening walk on Sundays; the baby was so delicate and small compared with other kids her age to bear at hand.

During the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, she makes the Ganesh idol out of clay with her own hands.

RGB Monday

A colorful part of the residential colony of Kodaikanal. 

Kodaikanal is a 175 years old town established by the British as a refuge from the plains' high temperature and tropical diseases. Kodaikanal is located above 2000 meters of sea level.

Sacred Heart Church, Kodaikanal.  It is one of the larger and oldest churches in Kodaikanal,  built 100-plus years ago and was renovated lately. 

RGB Monday

 Colorful Pongal kolams from the neighborhood

As usual, I went for a walk in the neighborhood on the evening of Pongal to hunt for kolams and captured only a few that were drawn in front of the house in the area.

RGB Monday

Colorful Kolams

The above one is from the New Year, and what follows is our Pongal kolam.

And both the simple kolams were drawn by my aunt.

For the past two years, mom has been unable to draw kolam with my aunt over the festive season due to leg problems. My aunt is also facing some health problems lately, unable to draw large kolams on her own, and has resorted to simple colored kolams. This time, for the Pongal, mom was exhausted because of excess house cleaning, and she was so tired that she doubted whether she could carry out the event the next day or not. But I'm glad she woke up normally for Pongal, and the rest of the day went well. 

RGB Monday

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2023 

My colorful Christmas decorations from our previous home on the backstreet, where we resided between 2015 and 2018. This year, I didn't decorate my Christmas tree, and I have no idea where it is, even though I wasn't in the mood to do so and partially because it's not easy to keep my nephew Kavin away. I abandon the notion of a Christmas tree. It will also take a search operation to locate the Christmas tree that has been with me for the past 11 years.

This is the scene for this year's Christmas, with a star tied to the balcony and lights strung across it.

RGB Monday

A colorful row of buildings on the road to Auroville.

Nephew Kavin's colorful toy, a battery-operated unicorn, came as his birthday gift.

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Kavin, my nephew, is having fun with his colorful toys!

I purchased this beach toy set since he is fascinated by the winnow, mug, and other home-cleaning items. Kavin is already 11 months old and will celebrate his first birthday on October 26th. We are excited to hold the event in some venue close to home that is also handy for me to attend. 

I bought a xylophone for my other nephew, Jeswanth, a year ago. But it serves the purpose only now; Kavin understands how the instrument works and knocks the metal bars with the sticks, but he still puts the wood stick (shaped like a Lolipop) in his mouth (as shown in the image) and hits the note with another. He occasionally knocks with both sticks. He's intelligent and patiently listens and watches things before going ahead. I'm also working on a birthday video for him, using photos I've shot so far and doing my best to make it look good. 

RGB Monday (& Little Monk Video)

Hanging underwear! Lol 

Once again, back with my nephew Kavin's colorful underwear (I couldn't get an apt picture to share for RGB Monday) found his undies hung to dry on the balcony railings. It reminds me of nothing but the Tibetan prayer flags; the colorful rectangular cloths hung along the paths and peaks in the Himalayas. 

Recently, we dressed him as a little monk and did a mobile photoshoot. As we got him to Tonsure, a custom of shaving all the hair on the head as a rite before the child turns one, he looked almost like a little monk, so we dressed him in an orange shawl and took some photos and videos. I composed a photo/video slideshow using those, and I hope you watch the slideshow/video embedded below. 

RGB Monday

Jeswanth's colorful birthday party

Last month my nephew Jeswanth (cousin's sister's son) celebrated his first birthday in open parking within a hotel in Mamallapuram. I didn't take many photos of the event, and thus I couldn't share them with you, and I also forgot to write about it. While scrolling through my iPhone photos for RGB Monday images, I came across a few pics from his birthday and decided to include them here. 

They got a large remote control Jeep for his birthday, and he was invited to the venue by putting him in the seat. To our surprise, he remained quiet and pleasant during the event, but he was ecstatic when everyone fed him cake after his parents assisted him in cutting the cake. 

They bought a double-layered cake with his name written on a chocolate bar facing the guest and a candle in the shape of a lotus that blooms when lit. I'm glad the event was held on the ground floor since it made it easier for me to attend. I went close to the stage to see what was happening, and it was a modest and pleasant gathering. We had mutton biriyani and veg-biryani for dinner, but it was too spicy, and I limited myself. 

You can see Kavin (bro's son) in a red hat, watching the happening. 

RGB Monday

 Colorful fishes 

My nephew (brother's son) Kavin's soft toys; since he is likely to grow teeth sooner or later, he enjoys biting things. To keep him from getting hurt, we prefer these soft toys. 

Here's Kavin, my adorable little nephew, who has started crawling. He has become a part of my happiness and a daily source of encouragement. It's amusing to watch him play, crawl, make naughty faces, and attempt to communicate. 

RGB Monday

Nephew's colorful underwear

I observed my nephew's underwear drying on the bed the other day and thought it was cool and colorful, so I decided to photograph it for fun. On April 26th, my nephew Kavin (younger brother's son) will be six months old. It's amusing to be around. He arrived last month from his maternal mother's home, having completed his fifth month because it is customary in our culture for the baby and mother to stay in their maternal home for 5 to 9 months after delivery before coming to the in-law's home. 

He's charming, intelligent, and naughty. He rolls onto his tummy and tries to crawl ahead, but he gives up because turning is easier for him. When he is awake, time passes quickly. And while he sleeps, we can work quietly, but he doesn't wake up to noises unless we address them aloud. It allows me to watch movies even when he is sleeping. He's in a good mood, and his delicate strokes genuinely caress me. He has a happy face and regularly smiles, even while he is crying. He chuckles. Lol 

RGB Monday

 A couple of colorful Kolam from Pongal. 

These are the remaining Kolams from the Pongal festival (Jan 14), which I shared here. As usual, I went around the neighborhood on Pongal Day looking for colorful kolams drawn by the neighbors, I couldn't find many kolams this year, same as last year, but I did manage to photograph a few. 

RGB Monday

 Few colorful Kolam from Pongal. 

On the evening of Pongal (Jan 14), I went for a walk around the neighborhood, like what I was doing for the last few years on Pongal day, looking for colorful Kolams drawn from the neighbors. Same as last year, I couldn't find many kolam, but somehow managed to click some.

Happy Valentines to all 

RGB Monday

Our Colorful Pongal Kolam

Not alone Pongal, any festival or event is not celebrated without drawing Kolam in Tamil culture. Although kolam is a Hindu custom or tradition, drawing a beautiful kolam in front of or in the courtyard of an event venue draws attention and adds charm to it. In Hindu custom, drawing Kolam is a daily activity of a household (mostly the women) in front of their house; until we moved to the 1st floor of our native home, mom used to draw Kolam every day. But now, due to a knee problem and difficulty in waking up early morning, she stopped drawing Kolam; but my aunt continued to draw the kolam on our doorstep, which was common to both of us.

This year's Pongal festival was better than the previous year where the covid and some personal losses took away the festive spirit and celebration mood. Though, this year too, we missed the traditional way of celebration with mud pot Pongal, what made it special was the arrival of the two new nephews. My sister’s (cousin) son, nephew Jeswanth, went to their house to celebrate Pongal while my brother’s son Kavin came here from their maternal home for the Pongal. Now Kavin had gone back, and Jeswanth returned. I hope you guys too had a good festival time if you celebrate Pongal.

RGB Monday

Some colorful houses

"Methai Veedu" or "Maadi Veedu" is a Tamil term used in village sides of Tamil Nadu to call houses with terraces, and these are a few such houses I shot at Palamathi hills near Vellore. 

Palamathi is a small hilly area located to the southeast of Vellore city, and a beautiful winding road leads from there to a renowned temple known as Balamathi Murugan temple. 

RGB Monday

 Umbrellas from different walks.

November 2021 had come to an end. The entire month has been raining for us despite the rainy season, and this is a repeat factor of 2015, and Chennai needs just 5 mm of rain to defeat the same. And to beat a 100 years of record, we need another 39 mm in less than a day. 

Typically, the northeast monsoon begins in mid of October lasts up to mid-December, but this year it was raining on and off from late July - at the beginning of November, we have achieved our share of rain already. We have overdone our season by 80% of additional rain, and yet we haven't completed it, and the meteorology has forecast a couple more depressions in the sea. 

Heavy rains over the last two days have caused floods in Chennai and its suburbs.  The 3rd week of November saw a terrific rainfall over the north Tamil Nadu and southern Andhra, which had flooded all the rivers and riverbank towns. And before we all come out of the disaster, the easterlies (or trade wind) took hold of the situation;  still, many parts of the region have no power. It's 3rd or 4th time our street flooded; gladly, it didn't take days to recede. 

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My parents decided to visit my maternal aunt's home and then to Mamallapuram to invite some relatives to the next week's baby shower of my sister-in-law. Taking this as an opportunity, my parents decided to take me out on Saturday, as I haven't gone out since lockdown 0.2; I also visited my aunt's home after five years.

I want to visit my aunt's home sometime and gladly took this opportunity, though I didn't get into her home as we had a short time as we arrived there in the evening. But surprisingly, aunt decided to accompany us on our drive to Mamallapuram, and that way she could spend time with us.  Later we dropped her off at a bus stop on the way home, and she immediately got on her bus and reached home on time. 

It was nice to come out after a long time, and I  could see many changes around me, and some remain the same as before. I could see houses and buildings in bright colors and many developments in road construction and flyovers, easing the traffic. I shared above is one of an apartment painted in different colors in the neighborhood of West Tambaram. I also got a series of sunset shots from the ECR to share in a future post. 

RGB Monday

The Grand Sweets in the neighborhood is one of my favorite restaurants where I tasted crispy dosa and puri once in a while. After the shut down of my favorite restaurant in Chennai - The Woodlands drive-in - in 2010, it transformed into a botanical garden; I had no opportunity to eat at a restaurant until the grand sweet opens its branch in the neighborhood. 

Not all restaurants are wheelchair friendly, and The Grand Sweets isn't an exception, but at least they allow us to eat from the parked car, and when they served from their own plates, it's hot and crispy to causes a desire to eat, which is missed in the parcel. I usually try this restaurant on Sundays, when there is less traffic on the road and space for parking along with the restaurant. 

After the pandemic begins, they allow only for parcels; though it isn't a matter now as I almost avoided going out rather for a short evening walk on Sundays, I miss the flavor. The last I went to the restaurant was for a coffee in perhaps 2019, and I remember it now when I come around a few shots on the restaurant when looking for images to share for RGB Monday. 

There's a textile showroom on top of the restaurant that caught my attention once, showcased colorful sarees on an array. They also have two mannequins wrapped in sarees, and the showroom has a glistening view.

RGB Monday

 A colorful school frontage...

on Periyakulam-Theni highway. The cropped image was a little shaky as it shot from a moving car. 

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Colorful street shots from the temple town Thirukazhukundram.

Either the shoes or bags are sold, I'm sure masks will do good business for them. Do you see the colorful masks hang out on stick before all? 

Florists selling colorful flowers under the umbrella. The images clicked from my last outing in February.