It’s a beautiful day outside, it started sunny and bright. Then the rain started as a slow drizzle, the scent of rain was there in the air, it is still there. Slowly and steadly it picked up pace and its raining elephants and giraffes now. It’s the second spate of rains in kerala called Thulavarsham* or the north east monsoon. Its rather unusual to have these downpours start early in the day, they are usually confined to the evenings and accompanied by heavy bouts of thunders and lightening. I’m not at all complaining about the weather, actually I’m loving it now, because it's my holiday today, and I don’t have anything else to do .

  My parents are here today for their weekly Sunday routine to see their little grand daughter. That means less work for me, because I don’t have to baby sit today, well, that is the only thing I boast of doing on holidays to help my wife.

Its still raining outside, my computer table is placed near the window from where I can have a nice ariel view of the city, yes , we stay in an apartment on the top most floor of a city sky scraper *. It’s a nice view ,alright , but every time I watch the city from the window I know how much I miss home, my village,, everything .....*sigh * .
    Internet connection is not working as they are repairing the cables today, India is not playing great cricket and so I don’t feel like watching the india -aussies test match…. well , its my hard earned holiday which happens to be excellent weather wise or otherwise , but I have nothing else to do, other than blogging.. Writing doesn’t come natural to me so I am too lazy (and apprehensive) to pen down my thoughts …


To blog,, about what? .. no nice topic enters my mind, and I don’t feel like participating in the tag games and the still ongoing war between some of my nice friends and I-wonder-who? .

Yess.. I got a topic, .. from Sunday supplement of local dailey here.. its about historical importance of 12th October 2008 and how it is related to me..

Today( 12th oct 2008) Sister Alphonsa* from Kerala will become the first nun from the country to be canonised by the Vatican . She will be the first female saint and the second saint from India. In the 19th century, Saint Gonsalo Garcia, born in Vasai near Mumbai to an Indian mother and Portuguese father in 1556, was declared a saint.


It’s a day to remember for the kerala christians and
2,000-year-old Indian Church, but why am I elated about it?..

 
I am from a very conservative hindu family but I was a great fan (if not a follower) of sister Alphonsa. I was in fourth standard when Thomas (my close friend then) revealed the ante dote for the daily quota of stick (which we were getting regularly). He told me that the  canes  never pained him. He showed me the last page of his school dairy where a Novena* prayer to Alphonsamma was neatly written, he told me that one has to write it daily for nine days and there after he/she will not feel any pain,, I was excited about the whole thing and readly copied it to my dairy,, and religiously wrote the prayer for nine days ..  and  on the tenth day .. moral science marks were announced.. by class teacher sr. Sloma.. .....


Sreekumar, Thomas, Raj, Naveen.. (The brilliant guys who managed to get a C grade in moral science)

        We were asked to stand up.. we know the ritual well.  , she was a bit surprised to see all of us smiling (all of us had written the novena… Thomas’s secret was made public by me on the very first day itself, Cmon... Sr . Sloma, make it nice and hard, we are not going to be hurt bcos we have Alphonsamma with us. I was a bit tense though..} .. I was the last one to get the stick..ooooooops !!!!!  it pained like  anything .. me almost broke into tears but regained my composure bcos I saw the other three devils were still smiling… after the class Thomas was the first one to approach me, soon the others followed.            
   
         How was it Sree? Did it hurt  ? .. I paused for a sec.. then replied..  NO....NOT a Bit… thanks Thomas…



           Sree.. .     Nandu has rolled over.. get the handy cam ready!
Anju came running to me to announce the gud news...


         this made my day!! .. thx St. Alphonsa ..







links...


             * thulavarsham


             * sky scraper   - There is no official definition or a precise cutoff height above which a building may clearly be classified as a skyscraper. However, as per usual practice in most cities, the definition is used empirically, depending on the relative impact of the shape of a building to a city's overall skyline.

               so in the city i'm residing.. a six storied building cud be called a sky scraper


 * Saint Alphonsa ..

* Novena

* Nandu  .. My 2.5 month old daughter.

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