Mystique

Being born and brought up in Bangalore my tryst with Kerala had always been the one month school summer vacation where I used to go meet all my cousins(total fun) and be dragged to all possible weddings(no fun) across kerala.

So it must have during college times or maybe a little after that I started getting attracted to the mysticism of kerala. Each and every thing started to have a mysterious element to it. The all time mystic looking thing is our Tharavadu(ancestral home) itself. Its a two storey building which even my grandmother(95 when she passed away last august) had no clue when it was built as for her it had always been there. The numerous rooms in the house be it the scary 2nd floor(still pray before going there), central courtyard which during rainy season is a treat to watch and the surrounding forest kind of areas and temple right next to it have such a magnetic pull that at times of stress just thinking of the place and the simplicity surrounding it brings peace ascending on to me.

This attraction slowly started trickling into my interest on movies. I started falling in love with all the movies which were considered to be slow, no dialogues, symbolic and arty types. Be it Perundachan to the latest Neela Thamara loved each frame of the movies. Though in this area there is lot of catching up to do as I have missed lot of the movies of the past.Watching these the one person whose stories which stand out is M.T Vasudevan Nair whose stories in movies are the ones that ensures that all glimpses of kerala of then are portrayed. The one regret that I have is though I can read malayalam I dont read it to that fluency that I can enjoy the meanings. I know am missing a lot because of that.

Its not the architecture or fame but some mysterious quality of temples in kerala which makes me completely lost in them. I prefer going to temples that are obscure; near our tharavadu there are atleast 3 of these that I regularly visit. One which is next to the house, one in the middle of a field and the other closer to the now main road. The placement of these is in the context of one having krishna in his child form, one in his Vishnu form and the middle one a devi temple.Though I try visiting all the obscure temples I can, I go to the bigger ones too. The simplicity of architecture and the prominence of keeping the premises and surroundings clean are the common feature of all.

I think for me being the hardcore bangalorean who loves the city for everthing it was and is and the other complete opposite tangent of kerala with its mysticism has given me a versatile view of things.