We have many street festivals in New York City, but nothing quite prepared me for the event that is the Attukal Pongala. This was a truly citywide happening, with every street filled with people, simmering clay pots and the pongala offerings. Add to this the many spectators, vendors selling trinkets and souvenirs, the trucks delivering water and fruit, the police vans and ambulances, and you have a scene that can be described as “amiable chaos”.

And despite the crowds and the smoky streets, the atmosphere was nothing but friendly. As a first-timer to Kerala and Trivandrum, I was very impressed with how relaxed the atmosphere was, despite the crush of the crowds. The blazing sun did not help matters and many people were sitting on the streets, fanning themselves for a little comfort. Many look tired as if they had traveled long distances to get here, but they still seemed to enjoy being part of an event that is clearly meaningful for them.

I was out walking the streets from Museum Road to the Attukal Temple itself (that must be at least 6km) for a seven-hour journey. One of the most interesting things was that I seemed to be the only Westerner in view (maybe they were warned to stay away because of the huge crowds) so that made me a curiosity to the people lining the street. Many people came up to me and asked me my name and where I was from. They seemed amazed that someone from the USA would journey to Trivandrum for this event (truth be told, it is part of a month long holiday in Kerala). Young people were particularly friendly and when I asked if it was ok to take their photos, they beamed with excitement.

I must have taken at least 100+ pictures on my digital camera……mostly panoramic but some intimate close ups. If I saw a woman in a colorful  sari or a young child dressed up the festivities or a group of young men arm in arm, I asked them if I could take their photo, and they were eager. If there is one thing I have learned in my many travels, it is that a smile is a shared common language. I smiled, they smiled, and without exchanging dialogue, we were sharing a special moment of intimacy. That is something I will cherish for a long time to come.

Once I (finally) arrived at the Attukal Temple in the afternoon, the crowds had gotten even thicker. I stood outside the police barrier, straining to take photos, convinced that as a man and a Westerner,  I would not be able to go inside the temple compound. A policeman noticed me leaning over to get some photo shots, and he walked up to me. “Oh, oh”,  I thought, “he is going to tell me that I cannot cross the line and that I am not allowed to take photos.” I was waiting for a scolding or maybe even to have my camera taken away, but the policeman instantly smiled (there is that universal language again) and told me that it was ok for me to go inside the compound and take photos. I went past the barrier, took off my shoes and spent a good 20 minutes getting some wonderful pictures of the lines of women entering the temple with their pongal offerings.

By the time I was finished at the temple, apparently so was everyone else. Suddenly, I was in a moving train of a throng, pushing (and I mean pushing) their way forward to the rail and bus stations for the long voyage home. I was literally carried away by the crowd, with short but determined women with bags on their heads pushing me forever forward. It was a mix of exhilarating and slightly scary……what if I ended up being pushed by this tsunami onto a bus headed to Tamil Nadu or the express train to Bangalore?

But this was not to be….I made the trek back to the Muthoot Plaza (my very comfortable, wonderfully air-conditioned hotel) and collapsed on my bed. While the day was long and exhausting (and very hot), I was so glad to be part of the Pongala happening. The Kerala people are beautiful in body and in spirit and I felt that I was  part of the community when spirits were high and the connection between people could be felt. It was yet another memorable day in Kerala, a place of great beauty and spirituality.

Sandy Mandelberger

New York, NY  USA

Email: sandy_mandelberger@yahoo.com

While roaming around Trivandrum i saw the city being decked up for the annual event of Attukal Pongala . Colours of all hues brighten up the city, people of all shades put in their efforts to appease their  Attukal Amma, come Sunday. Enthusiasm all around, I for once was humbled.Everyone is playing their part in equal measure. From the big shopping malls to the road side vendor every one lines up to make something for themselves and also play a part. The huge line of pots along the roadside is something one cannot miss, but for being blind. Men and women display their pots of all sizes to devoted women in the hope that the offering would well be cooked in their pots.

I stopped by for a snap and also some chit chat with one of the vendors. Hearing Sivan(name changed) tale was as as good as it gets though a bit cliched.

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Hailing from Neyattinakara on the border with Tamil Nadu this gentleman along with his mom and grandmother has been selling pots which is procured from Tamilnadu for the past 15 years. A porter by profession Pongala is his gateway to some quick money courtesy Attukal Amma’s blessing. Its a refreshing change he says from the back breaking work to that of a pot seller. He will go back with money and satisfaction too for Amma’s blessing in helping out the gentle womenfolk to carry out thier offering will in no way go unnoticed . This is is his slice of destiny and  I for a moment closed my eyes in divine reverence.

Private bus owners in the state will stop services for an indefinite period from January 5. The bus operators called for the strike in protest against the government’s inaction in solving the problems facing the industry.

I saw this interesting poster at the back of a KSRTC bus in the city today.

The first one calling for a strike of ksrtc employees by AITUC and the adjacent one stating that KSRTC employees wont strike on january 5th by CITU

Is it just me or is the trivandrum traffic chaotic? I have been noticing this fact in Trivandrum for the last few months I have been in this capital city.

• People rarely use Zebra crossing even though, unlike Cochin, they are marked very appropriately.
• Automatic Traffic Signals, if not watched over by a policeman, is a complete joke. Here RED is the YELLOW here which means “USE your own discretion if the signal is red!”
• Free left is another joke. If you are turning right, you are o.k to be on the left end of the road!

Though the capital city has done a lot to ensure the huge numbers of pedestrian traffic in Trivandrum, it is ignored blatantly. It makes me wonder if traffic is the real culprit here more than the discipline.

Do let me know your thoughts on the traffic of Trivandrum!

Courtsey: Express Buzz THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: While Kochi is singing tunes for Metro Rail, why shouldn’t the capital city think of a Monorail as a starter? If not the State Government, a senior citizen of the city has not just thought about it, but worked out a project report on ‘Monorail for Thiruvananthapuram’, which has got a warm response from the city’s MP himself.

Brigadier C.G. Verghese, VSM (retired) prepared the paper ‘Augmenting Transport Infrastructure, Monorail for Thiruvananthapuram’, which caught the attention of Trivandrum bloggers’ group last week. The group forwarded it to Shashi Tharoor MP and one of the bloggers tweeted to him about the post.

Tharoor, the other day, tweeted in reply to say that it is an “excellent paper, well-researched and argued.’’ He added that it,  however, requires State Government action.

“MP can’t initiate. Am willing to support a proposal by State Govt to Centre on a monorail system for Tvm,’’ Tharoor’s tweet to a blogger says

Meanwhile, Brigadier Verghese, who is in Mumbai presently, is a happy man that his project has been receiving its due attention. He had a few months ago submitted the project to Law Minister M. Vijayakumar and former Road and PWD Minister Mons Joseph. But the idea did not move an inch.

Verghese is a resident of the city for the last two decades and more, before he retired from the Army’s Intelligence Wing.