River Through Camera II

I had posted a few photos of Periyar’s “Aluva puzha” side which you had witnessed in a better way in the blockbuster Premam with all its beauty from the movie makers. Here are a few more photos to go with it. All these were taken by me on my camera and mobile. These will show the beautiful side of the river which blesses the town of Aluva or Alwaye once again. I hope that these will make you fall in love with the beauty of nature again.

But there were occasions when the river was not that kind; this one happened in the year 2013. The truth is that we are never prepared for situations like floods.

TeNy

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A River: Through Camera

There has been a good number of songs which have featured Periyar going through the town of Aluva, the most popular ones having the name itself in the songs including “Aluva Puzhayude” in the recent blockbuster Premam and “Aayiram Padasarangal Kilungi” from the 1969 movie Nadhi. Here are a few shots of the very popular river which has flown through inside a good number of Malayalam movies. All these shots were taken by me on my Sony Cybershot DSC-W310 Camera.

***Keep calm and spend some time near the Aluvaite part of Periyar or “Aluva puzha” 😀 Delighted to have lived so long on the banks of this river 🙂

TeNy

Absence of Thinking

The easiest thing to do in the world is to imitate without thinking. A few months ago, when the movie Premam released a few months ago, people were praising it so much, and overrating the movie just came naturally to them. Later, when they got bored, they started abusing the movie in the name of corrupting the youth. Now, they are abusing it because another movie, Ennu Ninte Moideen has released. The truth is that none of these activities make any sense.

Unfortunately, this is how some people work. One person come with something and creates many fake accounts to post the same thing everywhere; then most of the people just follow it without thinking. This is mostly initiated by fan-boys. This imitation of others is caused by people having no opinion by themselves. They will think as if this is the new trend, as everyone is saying that this new movie is good and the other old one is bad, it will go like this: “I will just follow the same even though I had earlier said that the other old movie was awesome”.

This comes as no surprise at all, because people change their colours so easily. They are always looking for a chance to degrade something or the other. They come up with many dumb reasons, and there is rarely any sense in it, because they are the same people who had said the exact opposite some time ago. In a few months, they will get another movie or person to love or hate. It is depressing that the educated people who use Facebook degrade to such a situation and fall into the traps set by fan-boys.

The biggest shame is that even the words used to do this remains the same. One day, one movie is “art” and when another one comes, these people showers abuse on the movie and praises the new one. Sometimes, it is the other way around. One has to wonder who creates fake profiles in Facebook and comes up with one trend or the other. Some people try to say that they are speaking for everyone and they know everything, but unfortunately for them, there is a huge community who don’t post in pathetic communities, and they know the truth.

Then there is the spread of hatred towards people. They call everyone names for no real reason. Sometimes the good people wonder where these guys find these names, and the reasons which make no sense One has to wonder where they find so much of such evil- is it from home itself? Do their parents teach to hate or is it just inherited from the friends? Finding hatred is easier, but the realization of the truth that people find so much time in hate is depressing.

May be most of the people don’t post and don’t like these posts can choose not to watch the movie supported by the maniacs who abuse. Their favourite stars could also be avoided, and then the superstars will tell their fans and fan clubs not to be abusive. They will have to listen to their favourite stars, right? May be they can use another title for the favourite movies of their superstars – Lies, Hate and Abuse; it is what they do. Their superstars can use the titles to their advantage because it is truth and people will instantly believe it.

The absence of brain is clearly evident in those posts. With mutual respect dead, is there any chance of nice comments from these people? Not anytime soon, I guess. But if movies are said to corrupt the youth, may be it is about some of these celebrities of whom these people are fans of. Will there be equality as long as there are blind fans? Superstars are created and so are the junior superstars. The people with real acting skills won’t be there to found. Whose fault is that? Those who imitate others and hate or love things like everyone else do?

***The images used in this blog spot are from the Official Facebook Page of the movie Premam.

TeNy

Tale of Five Towns

I have traveled a lot in a particular area more than any other, from the time I can recollect anything about the same. Just because I had nothing else to do, one day, I looked at the Google Maps and checked for those five towns to which I have traveled the most, and made a connection between them. I found out that the connection that I made looked like a mask; and for me, it felt like the mask of Zorro, Robin, the Green Hornet, the Spirit, the Phantom, the Green Lantern and the Lone Ranger – well, in simple words, it looked like a domino mask.

These five towns are part of the Ernakulam district of Kerala, not that far away from the city of Cochin. They are Aluva, Angamaly, Perumbavoor, Muvattupuzha and Kothamangalam. All of these towns were visited by me for watching movies, and all of them had the presence of Indian Coffee House at some point of time. There are also interesting tourist places close enough to them, mostly related to natural beauty and the same can be said about places of religious and spiritual significance. They are all well-developed, and have some interesting restaurants and bakeries for the food lovers.

1. Perumbavoor: The town lies in the centre of the other four towns, with less than twenty kilometres to each of them, the closest being Angamaly. Aluva-Munnar as well as the Main Central Road joins here to create one of the most prominent junctions without a National Highway passing through. The closest places of natural beauty are Kodanad which is famous for the elephant rescue/training centre and Paniyeli-Poru which is known for its serene beauty. With no railway connection, Perumbavoor along with Aluva and Angamaly becomes the three big towns near the Cochin International Airport. There is famous temple at Iringole Kavu near Perumbavoor, and other interesting places of worship also exists for all the three major religions.

2. Angamaly: Even though Kalady, the birthplace of Adi Sankaracharya, and Malayattoor, where Saint Thomas had prayed remain close to both Angamaly and Perumbavoor, it is this town which has the railway station which serves these two places of spirituality. National Highway 47 connecting Kanyakumari to Salem goes through the town, and it has one of the largest churches in India, and the town has a long history of Christian spirituality. It also has one of the best-looking Kerala State Transport Bus Stations, and one of the earliest modern style multiplexes in the area in the form of Carnival Cinemas. The only double-decker bus service in the district starts from here. This also serves as the border town of Ernakulam district with Thrissur district close to it.

3. Aluva: Often stylized with the older name of Alwaye, its most well-known part is the Sivarathri Manappuram and the Siva Temple there. Aluva Sivarathri is very famous, and the Advaita Ashram here was founded in 1913 by Sree Narayana Guru. St. Joseph Pontifical Seminary is also one of the oldest in the state. Aluva stays on the National Highway 47 connecting Kanyakumari to Salem, and Aluva-Munnar road is a common route taken by tourists. Aluva is where the city service to Cochin starts, and also the point from where the Kochi Metro begins, thus making it the unofficial finish-line of the city. Surrounded by the river Periyar, Aluva is also home to the Federal Bank Head Office. The Marthanda Varma Bridge is a significant landmark and the railway station is a busy one. Union Christian College (UCC) is the oldest college, and Premam movie shows a lot of the town and the college.

4. Muvattupuzha: On the Main Central Road, Muvattupuzha lies as a border of Ernakulam district towards the higher grounds. Connected to Perumbavoor with a perfect road and also well connected to Kothamangalam, it also has the districts of Kottayam and Idukki close enough to it, making the place more like an entrance to the the lower lands. It easy to go to both the smaller Areekal falls and the larger Thommankuthu falls from here, passing through Thodupuzha. You can also travel to Ilaveezhapoinjira, Vagamon and other places of natural beauty from here.
Muvattupuzha, despite the absence of a railway station and being further away from the airport, has undergone very good development, including becoming the only town outside the Kochi city limits to have a mall with multiplex.

5. Kothamangalam: Located closer to Muvattupuzha than any other town and also well connected to Perumbavoor, Kothamangalam is more like a gateway to the natural beauty of Kerala’s hilly areas. With no Latin influence, the town is known for its ancient Syrian Christian churches. It is a major pilgrimage area for the Jacobite Syrian Church, and the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church also has a strong presence there. The Thrikkariyoor Temple nearby dates a long way back. Interesting places of natural beauty like Bhoothathankettu, Thattekkad, Urulanthanni, Pooyamkutty etc are nearby, and this is the path which you follow to Munnar and all the beautiful places related to that destination despite being further away from air travel and railways.

***I have shared one photo of natural beauty from each of these towns along with the Google Map screenshot. All the photos were taken on my camera or mobile in the last five or six years. The most traveled cities are in the order – Aluva, Perumbavoor, Kothamangalam, Muvattupuzha and Angamaly.

TeNy