At Sridhar's House

As promised we stayed at our friend Sridhar's house this time for couple of days. We had wonderful time. They were great hosts. We happened to be there on Chitra Pournami. They have a family tradition of moon light dinner on the terrace on Chitra Pournami. It was very nice to be able to join the entire family on that occasion.
Koushik is growing nicely, playful and cheerful. We were very happy to see him.
The next day, Vidya accompanied us for shopping. We left home at 11AM and were back at 11PM ! I don't know if it was fun, but we were able to go to all shops we wanted to and got the jewels and dresses. Such a long shopping trip would have been impossible without Karthi taking care of Srinidhi all day. Only thing I forgot was to take a group photo at Sridhar's house!

Karthi was taking care of Srinidhi while we were shopping for hours. Here Srinidhi is at the Play Room in Naidu Hall.

Happy Birthday Srinidhi

After coming back from Kerala trip, we were all very tired and Srinidhi had light temerature and slept. So we celebrated his second birthday a day late on April 22nd. We invited kids from neighbourhood and had a small party.

Friends were there.

Cutting Cake.

Srinidhi in his Birthday Safari Suite.

Getting blessing from Grandmother.

Karthi had arranged for fireworks for all kids. Fountains, Wheels and Sparklers.

Karthi had arranged for fireworks for all kids. Fountains, Wheels and Sparklers.

Finally mustered up enough courage to hold one.

Relaxing at end of day.

Albhuthadweep

Did you see Albhuthadweep?

Kumbalam, 2005

This is the house Veena grew up at. It is named 'Pearl View'. Veena's maiden name is Pearl. This is at Kumbalam, near Kundara, Kollam Dt. Every time we visit, Veena laments the poor condition it is kept now. She remembers how good and productive the property used to be kept when she was growing up. They used to have good crops of Coconut, Jack fruit, Cashew Nuts, Pine Apple, Black pepper, Tapioca (Yuca) and Plantain.
Her mother was a good steward of the land. With almost no support from her husband, she largely dependent on the income generated from the land. Luckily Veena didn't have to face any hardship since she is the last one and her brothers started working by the time she was in school. With her mother’s dedication and support of extended family, they are all well settled now. They had another big property like this which they donated to the church.

Ligi, Srinidhi, Veena And Babu.

Newly renovated Kumbalam Church. I didn't do a good job with this picture. I wish I had a better vantage point.

Inside of Kumbalam Church with nice marble flooring.

This is the house Veena's mother grew up at. It is right at the edge of Ashtamudi Kayal. Veena has lot of fond memories of this house.
We stopped by to peek at the house Veena's grandmother was born (Valiyavila House). But didn't get a picture this time.

Shan, Amma, Veena, Srinidhi And Joseph Uncle at one of Valiyavila property.

Kallada Dam View

On the way back, we stopped by the viewing tower at Kallada dam near Thenmalai. The government is promoting this area for eco-tourism. There are already several eco-tourism related resorts/activities in this area. Beautiful place. If you are ever on Madurai/Kollam highway, stop by Kallada dam. Thenmalai is only few hours drive from the famous Kutralam waterfalls in TamilNadu and much better.