Saturday 4 April 2009

SUMMER SIGHTS AND DELIGHTS IN MYLAPORE

It is beginning to get very hot here in Madras/Chennai - to those living in cooler climes, it would already seem very hot, but the dog days are yet to come, after the Thamizh New Year sets in.

Nature has its own way of making up for the discomforts of seasons. Street shops, sprout up with the seasonal treats that cool us off. The gorgeous , succulent watermelons, are a treat to the eye as well.


This variety of cucumber, tastes marvellous with the salt and pepper (which the vendor readily provides you with - at least, he used to, I did not check it this time).


Water stored and cooled in porous mud pots tastes sweeter than water from the fridge. These were selling like hot cakes, pardon the expression. The flatter versions seen here are used for cooking and storing food.


Tender baby mangoes, which are bought by the measure, and pickled in brine to last the year round - a most popular delicacy, and the best accompaniment to the ultimate coolant thayir saadham (rice and curds). The bigger mangoes to the top of the picture will give you an idea of the size of these.)


And these lovely colours, golden yellow acacia and the magenta bougainvilla.




The pictures look better when enlarged - please click on them.

13 comments:

Kamini said...

Oh for a bite of those watermelons and the baby mangoes!! I would put up with any amount of heat for those! And soon - mangoes!
We still have a couple of months to go before the dog days of summer.

İlhami Uyar said...

I think all crops nature,have a good job.Best wishes

Gowri Mohanakrishnan said...

Your pictures and text leave me longing for Madras, nalla Madras and sleepy summer holidays spent reading and eating.

Viji said...

Oh yes and only Mother Nature can get away with falunting those gorgeous colours all at once and toeghter - the yellow and magentas of the acacia and bougeanvilla,the blue of the sky and the flaming redorange of the May Flowers with the purple jacarandas all of them summer delights ....and yessss Gowri those summer holidays were somehting else ...i remember fondly the Book Bank down the road too

Devika Jyothi said...

Oh summer!!
here its catching up...it gets me really wild,

but since past two three years..we had ample rains in between...but then we get to see all these cool, colourful stuff on the streets...and the sparley dressed females are a sight here in Delhi in summer, we get free of charge! :))

lovely sights and pictures, Raji

wishes,
devika

Maddy said...

those 'unthu vandi's' are great contraptions. I think it is only in TN and Karnataka that you find them used by 'iron' men as well..

the melons & strawberries have come out here as well in the supermarkets...

hantan said...

hmmm... guess the free sight as suggested by devika would make Delhi "hotter" than hell!! hehehe
and i am already starting to hate this summer.. ma cousin in bangalore is speaking about mist!! wish i was at cooler climes..
and i skipped iql meet today, partly cos of this summer.. wat a bummer..

Chandramouli S said...

Yummm, Melons and Mangoes! You're so right about thayir saadham with maavadu! Mmmmm.... I'm already thinking of lunch. In fact we almost don't eat anything else for sidedish until the maavadu jar becomes empty! LOL!

Sunita Mohan said...

Very colourful, Raji! Watermelons are made for summer, arent they? I love them.

Praveen Krishnan said...

Nice pics...I love vadu maanga :-)

Lakshmi Bharadwaj said...

oh wonderful pics, raji aunty!! those watermelons look so nice..would want to sink my teeth into them...and bouganvillas too...nice pictures, and a great write up too!! The summer in mylapore looks inviting to me! :)

Meera's World said...

what tempting pictures! iam determined to go home before the end of mango season this year.thanks for the wonderful post.:)

Kat said...

Just as Shelley said.. " I bring fresh showers for thristing flowers.."

You've brought a seasonal treat ahead of the hot days coming up..!!!