Jagathy & Mala

Jagathy & Mala

        I do not know what will come up if you Google the above words. You can try out this also. Go to any place in Kerala and ask the people what they think of ‘Jagathy’. They will pause for a minute for, In Kerala, these words can mean two things. These can be names of places. At the same time, these can be names of two immensely talented actors too. 

        Jagathy Sreekumar and Mala Aravindan are two veteran comedians of Malayalam film industry. They both have made us laugh and cry with their craft. ‘Jagati’ is a place in Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala and ‘Mala’ is a place in the ‘Thrissur’ district.

            Although Jagathy has done many memorable roles, one that has always stayed with me is his role in the film ' Sukhamo Devi'. There is a scene where he goes to Mohanlal's burial place and he salutes. It is heart breaking. Mala has always come to my mind in the role of a talented comedian. What about you?

Keywords : Malayali blog, Malayalee blog, Kerala blog, Mallu blog, Kerala, Malayalee, Namaskaram, Malayalam, Onam, God's own country, Back waters, Coconut, Coconut oil, Coconut trees

Santhoshamayi Gopiyetta!

Santhoshamayi Gopiyetta!

We mallus are quite crazy about our films. Malayalam film industry is quite a vibrant one. As much there are those class of films which win national awards year after year, there are commercial films too. Due to this, they have become a major influence in our day to day lives.

The title of this blog is one such snippet from a movie. It literally means “(elder bro) Gopi, I am happy”. But today, it is used in a much more comical way. People use this phrase quite often these days to express disappointment in a comical way. For instance, if your friend ditches you, you may tell him, “Santhoshamayi Gopietta!”. If your father promised to buy you a bike and went back on his words in the last minute, you may tell him “Santhoshamayi Gopietta” but ofcourse, from an arm’s distance J. 

p.s. Don't forget to breathe heavily when you say this dialogue ;)

Keywords : Malayali blog, Malayalee blog, Kerala blog, Mallu blog, Kerala, Malayalee, Namaskaram, Malayalam, Onam, God's own country, Back waters, Coconut, Coconut oil, Coconut trees

The Chettan Conundrum...

The Chettan Conundrum

Consider this situation. A malayalee family have guests from some other part of the country. The lady of the house says “ Chettan has gone to office.” She also says “My chettan and I studied in boarding school since my parents were always transferred”. For us, it doesn’t require much effort to understand the lady is referring to her husband in the first line and to her brother in the second part. But for others, this is the ultimate riddle of all.

Non-keralites are confused as to why would a lady address her husband and brother by the same word! I don’t know how they will react when we say anyone from an auto driver to a postman to a person delivering gas cylinder can be a chettan !!!

I really don’t know what I will tell them if they ask me “ok we agree. But then, who is ‘Mathai Chettan’ ? ;) Only we know “chettan” is mostly just a word attached for showing respect.

Keywords : Malayali blog, Malayalee blog, Kerala blog, Mallu blog, Kerala, Malayalee, Namaskaram, Malayalam, Onam, God's own country, Back waters, Coconut, Coconut oil, Coconut trees

The Mallu Super Hero

The Mallu Super Hero

        Every community worth their salt has their own super hero. Does mallus have one? Yes we do! That hero who comes to help us in danger, that hero who is just a shout away, that hero who rescues us from every situation – He is DINKAN!

        Much before X- Men and crew came, mallus had thought about mutation. ‘Dinkan’ is a mouse who underwent mutation. Hearsay has it that he was changed to a super mouse by a visiting UFO too.  The truth, only Dinkan knows.

So it works likes this.. whenever you are in trouble, all you have to do is shout “ Dinkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…..” and Dinkan comes to your rescue. Every week in the world of Balamangalam, some danger or the other befalls the forest where Dinkan dwells. And the animal kingdom turn to dinkan for help. As kids, many a mallu has turned to Dinkan for help and some of us, as grown ups too ;)

Keywords : Malayali blog, Malayalee blog, Kerala blog, Mallu blog, Kerala, Malayalee, Namaskaram, Malayalam, Onam, God's own country, Back waters, Coconut, Coconut oil, Coconut trees

Kiss of Love???

Kiss of Love???

        There was a recent campaign held in Cochin called ‘Kiss of Love’ which was a message against moral policing prevalent in our society. We mallus have a strange kind of moral conscience. We are one of the largest, highly educated communities in the country. But when it comes to matters concerning Love, we go back a decade. I think whatever conflict happened had more to do with the expression of love than love itself.

If you have paid attention, we mallus don’t hug. For that matter, it is a bit difficult for a large majority of us to express love. We do care deeply about people close to us. But when it comes to the physical expression of it, we shy away.

Even when it comes to elders, we show respect in very subtle ways. Many of us do standup when an elderly person walks in. But to touch their feet, it has to be a wedding or a ceremony. This is the reason why many mallu parents get a shock when their children’s friends from other states come and touch their feet. If they are of opposite sex, the mallu mother considers it as a marriage proposal! J

So one has to be a bit aware when it comes to physical expression of Love in God’s own country.

Keywords : Malayali blog, Malayalee blog, Kerala blog, Mallu blog, Kerala, Malayalee, Namaskaram, Malayalam, Onam, God's own country, Back waters, Coconut, Coconut oil, Coconut trees

Mimicry

Mimicry

There is no other state in India where ‘Mimicry’ has as much popularity as it has in Kerala. In most of the other states, it goes only as far to imitate film stars. But in Kerala, it has evolved to be an art form on its own – with variants ranging from skits inspired from politicians to socially relevant themes.

Mimicry became so popular that it became a grooming ground for aspiring film stars like Jayaram and Dileep who made it big in the malayalam film industry. 'Kalabhavan' played a huge role in popularizing this art form. Another great artist from this organization is Mani.

Those of us who would have seen the local temple festivals in the late 1990s and even early 2000s would fondly remember the ‘mimics parade’ which used to be held on temple grounds. They became such a rage that there were Video Cassettes released during that time. There are certain characters who were born out of mimicry directly to mallu hearts like Amina thatha and Ayyappa baiju more recently. We will read about them in the upcoming blogs :)

Keywords : Malayali blog, Malayalee blog, Kerala blog, Mallu blog, Kerala, Malayalee, Namaskaram, Malayalam, Onam, God's own country, Back waters, Coconut, Coconut oil, Coconut trees

Pirivu/Sambhavana

Pirivu/Sambhavana

One of the reasons why most of us mallus have a dog is to fend off people who come home asking for money. No, I am not talking about beggars here or those who are in trouble financially. Most mallus are large hearted enough to help out those people.

There are a group of people who come to mallu homes and ask for money not for themselves but for the ‘development of the society’. They come home asking for ‘pirivu’ or ‘sambhavana’. For instance if there is a festival that is happening in the locality, all the houses should pitch in for this. The same applies for political functions too. How much of this actually goes in to the cause is debatable though.

The people who come for collecting ‘sambhavana’ are the best financial analysts you can find. At one glance of the house, they will deduce how much the person residing there can contribute. They are talented negotiators too. They beg, plead and at times threaten (mildly though) ;).

Keywords : Malayali blog, Malayalee blog, Kerala blog, Mallu blog, Kerala, Malayalee, Namaskaram, Malayalam, Onam, God's own country, Back waters, Coconut, Coconut oil, Coconut trees