April 28, 2012
The mango showers that lasted three days seem to have ended by this afternoon. Flaky, powdery rain during the morning walk. Closed the umbrella and walked enjoying the nearly invisible spray. "Maramazha" (Tree rain) regularly from the saturated tree canopies at every inkling of a breeze.
The rain has opened up a deep, nearly perfect circle hole in the middle of an intersection in Jawahar Nagar colony. The road had been tarred only a few months ago. Some good samaritan has erected some tree branches and placed couple of orange traffic cones near it. It is no wonder that residents of Thiruvananthapuram feel the city is steeped in history and has several layers. Its depths are revealed by such holes very frequently all over the place.
Yesterday at the shopping festival, we found a stall selling mango juice. Mangoes across the country are not yet ripe. The 'Mango Fest' scheduled for the last week of May sounds like decent timing. Almost all the mangoes feigning ripeness in the market these days are cosmetically, chemically enhanced.
Abhishek hails from Bihar, a state known for mangoes. He picked up a palm-size mango at the stall, smelled it and asked me to try. "Smell the carbide," he instructed. I had never associated the word carbide with the act of checking a mango's ripeness. I used to get strange looks in the Walmart and Farm Patch back in College Station for the olfactory inspection of fruits. I could indeed smell the carbide in that huge, yellow mango.
The central government has cut down the kerosene supply to Kerala. Fishermen with boats that run predominantly on kerosene are completely dependent on the black market which has been, reportedly, charging five times the usual market price. This is reflected in the market price of fish. A single squid had an asking price of Rs. 150 yesterday at Palayam market. The fishmongers there appear to have informally unionised against fish that come from slightly distant shores. Apparently the fishermen in the outskirts have diesel boats, so those familiar with the little nooks in the city where they come to sell can still find cheaper fish.
My inexplicable association with architects has kicked into a higher gear. Back in Texas, two of my roomies were architects and I became friends with their friends. This afternoon I enjoyed a fantastic presentation by one of the most experienced and established architects in the state. Ar. N. Mahesh's lecture was organized as part of Indian Institute of Architects' Update & Upgrade program.
The man began his career back in 1975. Back then Achan didn't even know that Amma existed. As he narrated during the talk, his career began in a 110 sq ft room with an ammonia printer. Today his firm is the go to destination for all grand projects in the state: the gigantic Infosys ships, the Muthoot headquarters, the top of the line tourist resorts...
Great to get a share of the insights on client, project and office management that he has gathered during his long and illustrious career. The combination of anecdotes, tea and masala vada was perfect for a cool afternoon after heavy rains. Looking forward to the remaining two modules of his talk. For some reason, his slides were graphics-free and purely textual. Hopefully, some memorable graphics will enhance the ones in future.
Like all experienced masters, he spoke with splendid clarity. Such minds are like those rain saturated trees. Refreshing shower of wisdom every time they are shaken ever so slightly.
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