"Journey Lens: A Kaleidoscope of Life's Moments"

As I opened the door to the terrace, my eyes went straight to the hanging flower pot of our roof-top garden, which still had the Red Whiskered Bulbuls nest. The inhabitants of the nest had flown away. A touch of sadness hit my heart, remembering the last few weeks during which the Bulbuls had stayed in the nest and in our home too. Birds on our terrace are a common sight, with crows and pigeons frequently coming over for water and in search of food. Hence, it was not surprising to see a Red Whiskered Bulbul couple choose one of the hanging flower pots on our terrace to build their nest. Their nest was a labor of love, made with twigs put together over days. Once the nest was in place, the female Bulbul laid three eggs, whitish in color with a splattering of brown on top. The Bulbuls were not overawed by our presence, and we also gradually learned not to pay too much attention to them. A few weeks later, three chicks were born. The female Bulbul guarding the chicks and the male Bulbul g...

  After a memorable and eventful trip to Gokarna with batchmates from IAF, when the next trip location was finalized as the Valley of Flowers, there were no second thoughts for me. A trek to the foothills of the Himalayas was something I was looking forward to. After some googling on the net and a couple of rounds of shopping at Decathlon, it was good to go for the trek. And yes, some good wordly advice from Sattu sir too, a veteran of many treks and adventure expert who, besides briefing on the dos and don'ts of the trek, gladly lends me his “Chandrayan Raincoat,"  which I will come to later. After an uneventful Indigo flight to Delhi from Bangalore, I hopped into Sainik Araamghar at the Old Delhi railway station for rest before the onward journey to Haridwar by train. The Sainik Aramghar is named after Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck, a former Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army. Jawan at the reception told me that my accommodation was in the Officers Dormitory on the...

      It’s raining pitter patter .. and all I can do is think of the good times at TKM.  TKMCE .. A name I hadn’t heard / knew before the day I joined the college .. Coming from North India .. Engg College at Kottayam was logical choice due to proximity from native place. RIT Kottayam was just into it’s 2nd year of existence , though without any Buildings to its name. At 1st  chance interview ,came to know of one college with exclusive accommodation for 1st year students.. TKM. On joining TKM got to know accommodation is full at Kuttichira and we will be staying in Men’s Hostel (MH) from the very first day onwards. Joining me in the room were Sudheer ,Subair & Omar. And what a first day it was .. welcome to the hostel by seniors.. as their Mess Bills now will be less in the college ..seniors ticking me off for tucking in the shirt ..the pungent smell from the Cashew factories nearby …at lunch ..hot steaming rice along with hot rasam and sambaar and to top it...

As the Train to Bengaluru meanders on in its way ,few more of the remanences of life at TKM. The First year was dealt with   by managing Physics  by Mrs Blessimol , Chemistry by Mrs Zaibunissa .. Graphics by Prof EVM ..the most exciting class of First year ..Electrncs by Prof Shahul Hameed ..the current Principal of College ..concept of bandwidth was understood then.  Kuttichira guys moved into MH after First year with lot of trepidation..ragging will happen or not . Nevertheless it was fun with a large number of batchmates staying in MH. During S3//S4 .not sure which time ..one day everyone decided to shave off their moustache…!!  Quite a scene it was with the newly found shining space on the faces.!! Thanks to Kuruvilla⁩ who advised clean shave suits me better. Right from school days wanted to join National Defence Academy.. didn’t happen… hence joined the B Tech programme. At hostel ..for some reasons ..which lot of people still confirm to  Pattalam...

   It’s monsoon season and after takeoff from Bangalore all one can see is white sky all around. On an evening flight one generally gets to see Crimson Orange Horizon …and the various hues  and colours of the sky as the sunlight fades and night creeps in.  The discussions during evening prior to College get together brought out an interesting fact. Post-CoVid people were experiencing a feeling that they have grown old . Touching fifty and old..!!! .    I was amused  as I had heard cases of people having loss of memory but feeling old ..it was strange. Or maybe I’m yet to realise it.  I hadn’t got any of these signs after a mild CoVid infection. But then I was to get a surprise myself the very next day when I met  our batchmates ,majority of whom I was meeting after 1996 for the first time. Some unforgettable moments with them seems to have been wiped out from my memory even though some of the events associated with them I was remembering. Whi...

  ഒരു കാഴ്‌ച/മണം/ശബ്ദം ഒരാളെ പഴയകാല ഓർമ്മകളിലേക്ക് കൂട്ടിക്കൊണ്ടുപോകും .ഈ ചിത്രം എന്റെ oru യാത്രയെ ഓർമ്മിപ്പിച്ചു.. ആദ്യ വാരാന്ത്യത്തിൽ TKM -ൽ നിന്ന് വീട്ടിലേക്കുള്ള യാത്ര. വൈകുന്നേരം കൊല്ലം-കോട്ടയം train il റാഗിംഗിനെ കുറിച്ച് അലക്‌സിൽ നിന്ന് കേട്ടു. അങ്ങനെ ബസ്സിൽ വീട്ടിലേക്കുള്ള യാത്ര പ്ലാൻ ചെയ്തു.കൊല്ലത്ത് നിന്ന് കോട്ടയത്തേക്ക് നേരിട്ട് ബസ്സ് ഇല്ലെന്നറിഞ്ഞില്ല..അങ്ങനെ നീണ്ട കാത്തിരിപ്പിന് ശേഷം വന്ന ഒരു കായംകുളം KSRTC ബസിൽ കയറി. Alla  എനിക്ക് അകത്ത് കയറാൻ കഴിഞ്ഞില്ല enn annu correct. .!! 😀😀. തോളിലെ ബാഗ് katteth പറന്നു തൂങ്ങിക്കിടക്കുകയായിരുന്നു. 4-5 ബസുകൾ മാറി വീട്ടിൽ എത്തി. അടുത്ത തിങ്കളാഴ്ച്ച ക്ലാസ്സിൽ വെച്ച് നവീൻ ദിവാകരൻ എന്നോട് പറഞ്ഞു, കഴിഞ്ഞ വാരാന്ത്യത്തിൽ കൊല്ലം ബസ് സ്റ്റാൻഡിൽ വെച്ച് ഏതോ ഒരു ഭ്രാന്തൻ കെഎസ്ആർടിസി ബസിൽ നിന്ന് തൂങ്ങി നിൽക്കുന്നത് കണ്ടതായി .. ഞാൻ അഭിമാനത്തോടെ അവനോട് പറഞ്ഞു it was me only 😀😀 KSRTC ബസ് യാത്ര brings a lots of nostalgia..colour full ടിക്കറ്റുകൾ . .my pocket getting picked . . മൈസൂരിലേക്കും മൂന്നാറിലേക്കും മനോഹരമായ പകൽ യാത്രകൾ .. പൂഞ്...

    It’s weekend in Delhi .. and staying alone ( the luxury ends pretty soon ..!!!) means one has to plan how to kill time  on a weekend… !! I know some of my friends are feeling jealous of me staying alone  ..!!  Nevertheless the photo link shared in 1996 Whatsapp grp made me go over once again the entire Getto pics ..and kill good amount of time by trying to linkup the pics with the Then and Now .C ame  across pic of this guy ..Anil kumar TM or Kochu Paandi as we all lovingly call him ..my partner in crime …I was searching for his contact no for a long time and managed to get it only during the last 3-4 years  ..small man with a big heart ..that’s enough to describe him ..!!!     An artist ..pretty good in painting and clay modelling .. he always has a different lookout for things or rather life itself..his part tamil part malayalam language meant things can become hilarious anytime  when he is around.  Guess it was for Hoste...

     The Train journey on the Palakkad to Thrissur stretch  alongside Bharatapuzha  is my favourite. Clicked a pic from the railway bridge over Bharatapuzha and shared it the 1996 grp ,while I was on my way to Kollam for the Getto. As I was enjoying the unfolding scenery before me , my mobile rang .. an unknown number .. da nammude aluvapuzhaude photo entha idathe ..? Why didn’t you put the picture of our River Aluvapuzha or Periyar as it is more commonly known as ..!! I knew the person, the one whose favourite Hindi movie was Jiraftaar  and in his spare time at home we would be making channels for watering plants with garden hoe .. mamatty …Subair ..and I hadn’t spoken to him after college days.       Posted the pic of Aluva puzha  where some three decades back had  a memorable boat ride  with my first year hostel roommates ..Subair,Omar and Sudhir. Subair the cute guy from Aluva thuruthu and Omar the suave one...

    The late  evening flight from Bengaluru to Kochi has now become a red eye flight. To make it worse I have forgotten my ear pods. All I can do is flip through my WhatsApp messages and watch the repeated telecasts of Cricket World Cup highlights on the TV screen facing  me.  Came across pics send by my daughter of her college and hostels fully lit up  with colourful lights as Deepavali is just around.Memories of our MH Hostel day celebrations  flashed across my mind.       Hostel day  was an event everyone looked forward to. In final year self and Anil Peter were responsible for the conduct of Hostel day celebrations. From inviting the guests to selection of biscuits for snacks both of us had a hectic time running around for the event.  Some of our enterprising batchmates went to the extent of getting some “ Nadan Kallu “ from pretty far away too.  If I remember correctly they got it on the Kollam-Shencotta train . ...

        Zeigarnik Effect.A Cognitive bias due to which people remember uncompleted tasks better than the completed tasks. In other words we remember things for which we haven’t found closure. That probably explains why I have only few rememberances of the good times of college days.         After getting adjusted to the hostel food  and finding peace with the bed bugs, first year in college was eventful.  Interesting part were the practicals, be it the civil  distance measurements, electrical  circuit wiring’s or the mechanical workshop where turning, on the lathe machine  and creating moulds for the castings were the most exciting things to do. The exciting times were interrupted by a spark which got into my eyes ,during welding practice. Still remember the horrified face of my room mate Girish, when he saw me with one eye taped up, a one eyed jack, after the visit to the Doctor at Chinnakada. Though that incident ga...

     It’s a long weekend ahead, second Saturday, Sunday and then Pongal holiday. Caught the Airport bus early to escape the maddening weekend traffic. Ahead of me sitting in the bus is an old man who is conversing on his mobile phone. His topic of conversation, yesterday’s India’s cricket match versus Afghanistan. How Gill had run out his Captain  carelessly and how cold the weather was at Mohali where everyone’s hands were in their pockets. It was a pretty interesting conversation and I loved his child like exuberance  when he  was talking about cricket.  It brought me back memories of cricket at  TKM  where college life and cricket were almost inseparable.The evening game of cricket at men’s hostel is one of the fondest memories of my college days.        A day of cricket is also unforgettable one for me when me and Deepu Jose played together for Mechanical Batch team. Sadly Deepu is no more. It was a match against Compu...

        When I got  a message that one of our batchmates is visiting Bangalore  and for her we  were planning  a get-together  on weekend , I pretty much agreed  as it’s always a joy meeting old friends. Next day my wife mentioned that she had been requested for a dance performance by her team  towards  DRDO Ganapathy Temples Annual day celebrations. A quick  look at my schedule and I was ok with attending both the events on the same day , same evening , 08 March 24, International Women’s Day, as their timings were comfortable for me to attend.      A day before her event I asked wifey how was her preparations for the next day’s performance. She mentioned that she will be just filling in between the dance performance by her colleagues, as Durga Devi.  The next day evening after I was done with photography of  the dance programme, I was musing over  on what I had seen on the stage. Vidyas facia...

          After finishing my initial training on joining IAF,   I had got back home in Kerala when the news of Kargil war started to trickle in. I had been given full quota of my leave , 60 days,   before I had to join my new place of work, Kalaikunda near Kharagpur in West Bengal. As the war continued to play out on TV and newspapers I couldn’t stop myself getting back to work and join the war. I boarded the TVM-Guwahati express along with my new bike, Bajaj Calibre, inspired by the   famous ad of course ..!!! , well before completing my leave and reached Kalaikunda. On reaching there found   out that I had been detailed for a training programme in Pune for three months . I was amused. On one hand I wanted to join the war and here I was detailed for a   sought after Training programme and that too in Pune.        My Engg College Trip in Second year to Munnar and Athirapally still invokes mixed feelin...

     Looking in hindsight I often  think whether I could have done  things differently. Maybe, maybe  not. One such instance which remains unforgettable for me was the Graveyard Shift theme party.  I had  just reported to Bidar on posting. There was a farewell party to be organised for a Senior Officer who was moving out of Bidar, on promotion. I was made incharge of the party, ostensibly to make me familiar with the place as well as with our team. There was some confusion  about the schedule of  the party. By the time  clarity was available and dates fixed , the main party hall available in Officers Mess was booked for some other event.       As the outgoing officer for whom farewell was planned was engaged on other dates,  we didn’t have choice of any other dates for the farewell party,  other than the one we had fixed. The only other venue where party could be organised, with some additional effort b...

 By the last day of our Great Lakes of Kashmir trek ,the Trekking gang had become a good gang of friends.. we had amongst us in  our Trekking gang  four trekkers from Thailand , one Britisher who was shifting to New Zealand and two female solo trekkers from Kolkata . It was always a friendly chat / banter with the Thai guy , his name was Piya .. who was always welcomed with the Hindi song “Piya tu Ab to Aaja ..!!! . We got free Thai massages from him during our warmup and cool down sessions.. .!! very short ones though..!! While chatting  with the Britisher .. I  mentioned about the large empty houses/mansions in Kerala..he was surprised and asked me if people get more friends by building large houses, I didn’t have an answer ..!!!

        Should I shouldn’t I …?? That was the question in my mind on attending the Getto . The question hung in my mind for quite some time. I had a long pending family vacation to Ladakh scheduled before the Getto. And  the dates for Great Lakes of Kashmir Trek were scheduled immediately after the Getto.  Hemant and me were planning for a game of tennis for quite some time when I was in Bangalore.But  for some reason or the other it didn’t happen.So when Hemant planned for a game of tennis prior to the Getto at Kollam itself the entire scheme of things seemed good for to me to take a plunge and do a cross country trip for the Getto from Delhi.         Boarded the Garib rath train to Kollam in the evening, the same day I had returned to Bangalore from Ladakh. It was welcome onboard the Garib rath.  While helping a co passenger to pull the side berth down .. it straightaway fell-down and hit top of my head . I was dazed  an...