April 25, 2012
I am typing this from the cool comfort of the verandah. Till yesterday, seeking refuge indoors under the fan was unavoidable. But then it rained all night! Decisive, 'game-changing' mango showers!
The deep gray skies and the virtually omnipresent pothole pools of reflection left the city a self-conscious this morning. The drenched green canopies giving her what Kalidasa called the summer solaces that women bestow on their lovers with the cascade of bath-fresh hair. With each whiff of the occasional breeze, refreshing, cold surprises from the tree tops. On other days, the crows would have been the suspects.
Since the label 'mango showers' had come to mind, I noticed the fruit-heavy mango trees inside Jawahar Nagar colony during this morning's walk. Mangoes of different shapes and shades of green mostly. There is one tree of the purple mango variety near the NCC office.
Though I didn't get to walk around much inside the IIT Bombay campus when I visited in October, with all the new construction, the number of mango trees there must have drastically reduced. In the 90s, the produce from all the trees inside the campus was so high that it got mentioned even in the Union budget. India continues to be the world leader in mango production by far with nearly three times the output of China. As early as last month, artificially ripened mangoes laden with harmful chemicals had hit the market. With the 'mango showers' finally here, it is time to look forward to fleshy, juicy, naturally ripeones.
While the rain began yesterday evening, I was inside the Bank Employees Union Hall near Kallamman Kovil at Pulimoodu. The monthly meeting of 'Narma Kairali', the local humor club headed by veteran satirist Sukumar was in progress. The rain might have been noisy but it couldn't beat the roaring generator outside the hall that kept going almost for then entire two and half hour event. Even then, thrice during the meeting, we had half minute long black outs.
Sukumar is an experienced hand when it comes to skewering politicians but the rest of the team was nowhere close to his caliber. I am pretty sure I am not biased towards the West when I say that stand-up comedy in Britain and USA are generations ahead of what I watched here yesterday evening. Couple of parody songs were funny.
Only once barrier-breaking, original humor surfaced. Sukumar mentioned that a wiry, 50-something gentleman, in traditional, borderline religious costume showed up one day at his home. As soon as the door opened, the man said, "Saarine enniku venam. Saarinte body" (Sir, I want you. Your body!) Sukumar said his wife was shocked. She doubted if he has started experimenting with homosexuality as is the new fad among high society aged gentlemen in the city. Sukumar himself stood open mouthed. Turns out that the guest was a Yoga instructor and this was his opening line.
The performers refer to notes and speak from a podium. A element of formality and ritualism hangs in the air. I felt this was a step backwards compared to the free flowing, stage utilizing, audience-involving performance of Chakyarkoothu which is a true precursor of stand-up comedy.
The hall however was packed and there were some wives accompanying their husbands. Applause and laughter were limited mostly owing to the abundance of recycled jokes presented and the substandard delivery.
Recently, during a house visit I was offered a concoction brewed from a powder mix of coriander, dried ginger, cardamom, fenugreek with jaggery. It feels like an illegitimate offspring of the popular 'rasam' dish and the common 'chukku-kaapi' (dried ginger coffee). And like all this illegitimate, it felt good!
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