Mallu Stories

I don't know if I should give credit to the ambiance or the food.  The fact is that both were equally good.

Yesterday we went to Mallu Stories, a great place for Malayali cuisine. I ordered a fish meal while wifey ordered Pothi chor (rice and curry wrapped in a banana leaf).

All the items on the plate were tasty, especially the Sambhar. The fish curry was a bit spicy (for me) but then that is how fish curry is supposed to be.  The Cheera thoran was just yummy. Had pappadam after a long time.
Along with the food we were served semiya payasam. We were told that on sadhya dates, they serve paal payasam or parippu payasam. (Sadhya dates are announced through their instagram posts)
I liked the illustrations on each page of the menu card.

But better than that, the illustrations on the walls speak for themselves.

The twirled moustache of Innocent says that it is from the movie Mithunam where he acts as a tough brother in law.
Those who have watched Malayalam movies would relate better as most of the famous dialogues from the movies are put up there.
Like this lady Philomena who is famous for using crass language in almost all her movies

Below is one of the famous dialogues between Mohanlal and Srinivasan in the movie Nadodi kattu "Etra Manoharamaya nadakatta swapnam"

Harishree Ashokan's dialogue in Punjabi House "Chappatti  nahi, Chor Chor"

In the same frame above you can see the Genzee's heart throb Fahadh Faasil with his dialogue "Eda Mone"
A typical scene from a rural part of Kerala where a KSRTC bus arrives while the elderly sit under a tree reading newspaper and engaging in discussions on "current topics"

I was a bit disappointed with the pazham pori (banana fritters) . Usually nicely ripe bananas are used for preparing this. What we got was a bit on the raw side. 

There is no problem for parking as they have enough parking space.
I heard that there is a lot of wait time involved, but we got a table quickly as it was a weekday. 
A special mention should be made about the pocket friendly prices. Our total bill came to Rs 620/- for two (about $7)  after having a sumptuous meal.

It is located at Dhole Patil Road in Pune (not far from Pune station)
As a typical Mallu I would reiterate what Ashokan said "Chapati nahim nahim'

Barbet and its nest

It is really interesting to see how these small birds coexist with each other. I was watching this pair of Coppersmith Barbet building their nest and in the process saw many other birds on the same tree.

I also observed that the Barbet had a set routine during the day. At the crack of dawn he sits on the eucalyptus tree close to our house emitting his tuk tuk sound. Once he moves on, the Mynahs parks themselves on the tree creating a lot of racket. Then comes the sunbirds flitting around pretty fast, followed by the fan tail with their peculiar tweet.  Once the sun is real bright, the pair of grey hornbills do make their presence felt.

More like a fixed time slot for each bird. The Barbet  does not get distracted by the other activities on the tree, like the parrot feeding the young one.

Or the male koel sitting on the same bark where he is chipping away the wood for the nest.

Earlier he started on the east side and went pretty deep with the hole, but abandoned it. Could be the wood was hard, or could be that the sunlight would hit the young one directly.

Have made a small video with whatever I could capture. Now the Barbet is working on the west side, away from my line of visibility.  If I can capture some action from the other side, then maybe I may come up with part 2 of this video. We can name it West Side Story.

Hoopoe and Nilgiris

The movement of the brown capped pygmy woodpecker was interesting to watch, especially the way it pecked off the outer bark of the tree to inspect if any insects were hiding in the crevice. (can be seen in the video) Don't miss the matching pattern of its wings and that on the tree.

Had been to the Nilgiris (Tamil Nadu) last month. A beautiful place as far as nature and wildlife is considered.

Bison (Indian Gaur) roam the hilly slopes and are generally calm unless provoked.

Heard that there were wild bears where we stayed and I was lucky enough to get some footage of him lumbering up in the hills.

Sighted a Hoopoe. While reading about it, I came across interesting stories including the fact that Hoopes were thought of as thieves in much of Europe and harbingers of war in Scandinavia

It is nice to see different species of birds basking in the morning sunlight. Be it the tickell's blue flycatcher, or the pied bushchat or any other bird.

I was even happy to see the common sparrow, which is now not so common in the cities.

From far, this looked like one of those vintage porcelain insulators used on telephone lines, but when I zoomed in with my camera I realised that it was a long tailed Shrike

The black winged Kite was looking majestic sitting at the top, but what is spectacular about it is the way it hovers in mid air over open grasslands, probably looking for a prey. Managed to capture that action in video (though there was a slight camera shake considering the fact that the camera was hand held)

Sighted many more birds but the giant squirrel was a first for me. Its huge coffee coloured bushy tail is very mesmerizing.

I found that it was sort of friendly and didn't mind me taking photos while it went about the business of eating the fruit from the tree.

I Heard that they did sight elephants too passing by (twice in the last three years) The vegetation too adds to the attraction for the animals like this bunch of bananas which I clicked in the valley.

Talking of vegetation, I saw this tamarillo for the first time. They say its a type of tomato . Prior to 1967, the fruit was known as the "tree tomato" but the new name tamarillo (which was not the name in Spanish or any other language) was chosen by the New Zealand Tree Tomato Promotions Council in order to distinguish it from the ordinary garden tomato and increase its exotic appeal.

A habit like reading

For those who like to read, it turns out to be a habit that sticks on. For many, the morning newspaper is a must. A way to keep yourself connected with the outside world. This is a picture clicked in Dhobi Khanna (Cochin) by Adrian Whittle a few years ago.

The rising sun gives enough light for these flower market workers to read the regional newspaper. This was shot in 2007 by Akshathkumar Shetty at the City Market in Bangalore, India.

The story can be the same in any part of the world, like for instance like inside an Osteria (Tavern) in Italy. (Photo credit Giulio)

Sometimes it could be just a novel, like this horse cart driver in Salzburg catching up on his reading while waiting for his next customer. Maybe he is taking night classes and is going through his text book. (Photo credit Bill Smith)

Sometimes you don't want the story to be interrupted and are willing to continue reading in the tight confines of a Metro in Washington DC (Pic credit:Dale Scherfling)

Libraries are a totally different world for book lovers.You can just sit and browse through a vast variety of books (provided you have the time) (Pic credit: bawtrees)

I like the design of this public library in Seattle. Nothing like allowing the natural light to come in. (Photo credit:Doc SaintX)

A book in hand is always good while travelling, especially when it is long distance. You will never feel "distressed" (Pic Credit: Siakou

Like this village scene. Kids enjoying by the riverside. The common factor? Reading. This is somewhere in Ayodhya (India) (photo credit: Eli)

Here is an interesting picture and this is what the photographer Ameer Hamza has to say: Wife cooked excellent tikka with some gravy, imli ki chutney which was just well made, additional support was provided by hari chutney, piyaz, mirch and kheera. Beautiful. My kids also enjoy this dish so I decided to have my Guria hold this wonderful book. I could not find a better way to photograph the entire spectrum including home made parathas with my early favourite book by master Islamic scholar, A J Arberry. This book must be considered as a classic among studies of Islamic Civilization, a vast, difficult, fascinating subject. So vast and so intricate that few Muslims would know or be able to accurately describe the term 'Islamic Civilization'. Example: A Christian translator working for a Muslim Abbasid King on a Greek manuscript to be translated and annotated in Arabic should be considered as 'Islamic' ? Questions like these are played well. In Pakistan Suhail Academy is at the forefront in publishing such wonderful books. This edition is 2001 printed in Lahore.

I never knew about this bookstall "Shakespeare and Company" till I saw the photograph. What the photographer Craobh Nua has to say :This is quite possibly the most famous bookshop in the world. It was responsible for giving "Ulysses", by James Joyce, its first print run - some were autographed, and these are now reckoned to be the most expensive books of the 20th Century. It was also closed down during the Second World War, when the owner refused to sell a book - Finnegan's Wake, according to legend - to a Nazi Officer. The books are pretty much all in English, and if you buy one you can get it stamped.

I added this photograph for the wonderful picture that it is. A good example of a candid picture and the contrast is very sharp. This was clicked at the Abbey of St Pierre in France. (Photo credit: Dprezat)

"Immersed in the book" so to say but not a very safe place to sit and read from the safety point of view. (Photo Credit Francesco Mariano)

This is a photograph of a painting kept in the State Russian Museum at Saint Petersburg.Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky (Shitiki, December 6, 1868 - Berlin, February 19, 1945) was a Russian painter. He painted mostly genre paintings, especially of the education of peasant children, portraits, and impressionistic landscapes studies.     This picture reminds me of Tom Hanks movie "News of the world" where he is a news reader in the 1870s (a masterpiece of a movie) (Pic credit: Gandalf)

Catching up on that reading while the child plays. Like the colours and the composition of the picture. (Pic credit: James Beard)

Everyone is interested in the news. A picture from 1934. Berlin photos from 1920 to 1950. (Pic credit: Janwillemsen)

When it comes to children's books, the illustrations matter. The imagination of a child gets fired by the drawings in a story book and the impression lasts. (Photo credit: Jean)

The photographer from Spain has compiled this and written: (roughly translated from Spanish)  "Today I intend to honor my parents who taught me to read and learn from reading. My father's first love was reading. With Don Quixote I started reading at school. However, at home after doing the usual homework, he always had to read a few pages aloud with them. And I am grateful for that." Reminds me of the Don Quixote stories I learned in school. (Pic credit)

Can imagine the days when people had to read a book to operate the camera. A picture of the fifth edition of the book (June  1956) (Pic credit:John)

Is the girl enacting what she is reading? Does the dog see something? Is he going to jump out? There is a story developing here I suppose. (pic credit:Jon)

The sticker says it all, and the book lovers will agree with this. (pic credit)

Would like to know what happened here. Or is it just strewn around for sale? This is somewhere in Brussels (pic credit Koen Jacobs)

It has been a long time since I have seen a proper globe, and a huge one like this. By looking at the shape of Asia, one can guess how old this is. The magnificent monastery library was built between 1680 and 1689, by Carlo Antonio Carlone. It is one of the great libraries of Austria and contains about 160,000 volumes, besides 1,700 manuscripts and nearly 2,000 incunabula. (Pic credit:LitterArt)

The photographer made an observation that three people are reading at the same time. He says that this is extraordinary and is practically a disappearing image in the metros and trains. This is in Catalonia in northeastern Spain. (Pic credit: Miquel)

In my lifetime I had met only one cricket commentator and his name was Mamma. When I met him in his house at Panchgani (near Pune) what struck me was his collection of books (mostly about cricket) Here is a picture of Henry Blofeld, a retired cricket commentator at Barton's Bookshop in Leatherhead. A proud moment for him with his picture on the cover page. (Pic credit: Monica Weller FRPS)

 Designing a book cover is an art. Trying to catch the eyeballs with minimal art on the cover is the trick. Incidentally this novel by Jenny Erpenbeck is supposed to be an excellent novel on refugees in Germany. (Pic credit : Vivien)

    There is no age bar when it comes to reading. "Retired and loving it " is the title of this picture. (Pic: pensioner Percy)

Young lady trying to figure out a hand written manuscript (Pic credit: Natalia Yankelevich)

And this was clicked in Brussels street (pic credit :Natali Antonovich)

  This picture by Lou reminds me of my school days when I used to pick up the comic paper first and finish all the comic strips. In the words of the photographer : A very rare scene...two young boys sitting in the coffee shop reading the Mercury News. Kids this age normally have their noses buried in an electronic devise.There is nothing like seeing a child engrossed in a story book. Pic credit Lou Alexander

Here maybe the child is trying to explain the story to her grandfather who clicked her in action. (Pic credit: Philip Van Ootegem)

This is something all booklovers don't like to see in a book. Dogears. And it happens when readers fold the page as a bookmark. (Pic credit Yvonne Kluin)

There are so many bookmarks you can select from. As long as they are flat and do not damage the book. (Pic credit:Anna Kristenson)

Some can be funny (Pic credit: Marian Kloon)

It can be the squished rat or the giraffe or the moo moo cow.

I like this huge mural in Germany. There is also a video on how the mural was made. Pic credit: Mhobl

 So let us get to know the world by reading more books. (Pic credit: Carlo)