Ladies ...ladies ...ladies ... around me..I am the one odd man out in the crowd in T Nagar during the prime hours of the day... I found myself like an alien among those lovely ladies with glittering gold on their body and the fragrance of jasmine in their braids making me forgot my very hectic day work. Slowly a crazy idea cropped in my mind why can’t I turn like these beautiful ladies then I can have the pleasure to wear whatever girly things I like and I can admire myself in the mirror....oh..oh..wait stop thinking about it..I am a man...I should admire women and what I am thinking is aginst nature....ok..just a sec when half of the women around me are wearing T-shirts and jeans then why can’t I wear their colorful dresses..after all, women are also looking for gender equality right... Ok.then I told myself I should stop thinking about all this and then I went to have a cup of tea to flush out all these ideas out of my mind. Now a sip of tea made me refreshed ...yes now all old ideas are gone and new ones started cropping up...Last week I spoke with Ramya Akka regarding the Kollam trip and I booked my tickets that night itself...yes I have her number then I ranged to her and I heard a very congenial voice saying “Sollunga amma”..then in my thoughts I felt like someone addressed me like a cute little baby.. then I started the conversation with her about our plan to Kollam and asked her to guide me for shopping....she said, she will join me for the weekend. I was just counting the days...I have to wait 6 more days for Sunday to come..Finally, my most awaiting moments came and I met Ramya Akka along with Vanitha Sree, Subhashi Issac and Vijaya Laxmi that was my first time meeting all three ..Ofcourse meeting Ramya Akka in person is also my first time....they were talking in Tamil and I was laughing and enjoying the conversation as if I am understanding every word of their conversation..yes I am really enjoying..the very company of like-minded people around me is the reason for my true enjoyment...language can never be a barrier if you start believing people and you can have a good healthy relationship with them too... Its time for Shoppppppppping...girls lets go... I hopped on Subhashini’s bike.. and we all went to the T .Nagar market. I personally have a strong feeling that T Nagar is my area and I know the nook and corner of T Nagar..yeh..That’s my Adda...later I realized I hardly knew 5% of T Nagar..these girls taken me to the best shops and was surprised with the variety of girly collection and cosmetics that every girl badly in need...I was totally lost then someone called me and I turned then a motherly affection showered on me by the words of Subhashini...(from here onwards I am going to address her as “amma” for the comfort of my writing). Meggy what's your pancake number dear..pancake I heard for the first time..amma I usually use foundation and concealer... I never used that pancake before..ok no problem sweetie. Pancake works wonders on your skin it helps you to get very perfect natural skin tone..it evens everything..she suggested me to take 28 number and I took it without knowing how to use it.. We have one more visitor from Bangalore Deepu(Deepa Priya) and one localite Sheela Dharshini joined us. We all entered into one more shop as if we are going to rob the shop and coming out with pale faces for not getting the color saris of our choice. Finally, Deepu had chosen one sari in maroon and gold combination and I liked that sari and I want to go for something like that then I had taken green and gold combination sari. Ok others took saris of their own choice... but something is missing ... what's that something?.. If all of us can wear the same type of sari for Kollam like a bunch of cheerleaders uniform...Oops..sorry..like a bunch of traditional ladies it would be great.. Ramya and amma raised their concern and everyone without any second thought said yes....we will do it... So sari shopping over and we bought matching accessories as well. Now the biggest challenge for the evening,..we should find a tailor who should stitch our blouses without asking anything... then Vanitha said don’t worry girls I know someone who will stitch without asking anything..Now she took us to our so-called Elizabeth tailor like an engine takes bogies to their proper destination. We have given our measurements without telling a cock and bull stories to him for the first time to stitch a blouse. He said it will take 4 days' time and we said ok because still, we have 5 more days to start from Chennai to kollam...

Finally, our travel day came and we are all waiting on the platform with big suitcases full of stuff. Ok finally we boarded the train and it departed at the scheduled time and Ramya sri, Vanitha Sree, Christina Chris, Deepa Priya, Vijaya Laxmi, Sheela darshini,Kalai Mohini, Priya Sherin and myself Meghana Dixit. Those are the fun and frolic moments we all had and they were discussing the fun they had in their last year's visit to Kollam...I was enjoying the conversation and I am feeling myself that I am lucky to be with them and I thanked the goddess for this...then immediately I realized I should thank Raadha Rani didi first because of her only I met Ramya sri and Subhashini amma and there by I met every one.. then I thanked Raadha Rani didi.. But at the last minute Subhashini amma could not make to join us because of her presence was badly needed in her duty...We all missed her alot... Reached Royal Palace in the morning and checked into the rooms and what a sea view hotel it is..good ..perfect for CDing. Then deepu’s (deepa priya) friend Radhika Radu came there and we had lunch together and sharing our experiences while relishing every bite of tasty kerala food. Then girls let rock thats what we all said to ourselves and went into our rooms and started unpacking our stuff that was packed a day before under rush. Ok now we started identifying what are all the that we missed out on while packing.. we decided among ourselves ok no problem we will share among each other and sing the famous Airtel advertisement song har ek friend jaruri hota hai ....and started doing makeup... In the evening some are eagerly waiting for makeup man Shaiju to sculpture them into beautiful ladies for the evening and others like Prema vinodini, Sarala kumara are doing their own makeup.. I recollected the words of Raadha rani didi while chatting on FB she said I will do my own makeup for Kollam festival..try and u will master the art of makeup one day... then I decided come whatever may be the end result I will try my makeup... with the makeup stuff I had with me I started doing my own makeup..with power cut and low daylight finally I managed to look okay.. now here comes the trouble.. I don’t know how to wear sari and I was surprised by Ramya akka’s tensed up in finding perfect dress for her and she kept on changing dresses but not happy with what she is wearing...Others were waiting in the queue for their turn with the first coat of makeup on their faces.. time is running out and no one is ready and all tensed up.. I am done with my makeup and waiting for a helping hand to dress me up in saree..then Laxmi Pavadala akka(elder sister) came to rescue me and spent lot of time to get the perfect look. First time in my life I had experienced that some one who is a stranger to me is putting that much effort to make me look beautiful.. thanks to laxmi akka for her effort in making me look pretty.

Other girls Sruthi sen,Priya Sherin, Kani Kadir, Vanitha Sree, Ramyasri , Sheela, Sindhu Laxmi, Vijju(Vijaya Laxmi), Kalai Mohini, Cristy(Christiana Chris) all got ready for the temple. Now C’mon ladies face the people...Ramya Akka took the responsibility to take us safely to the temple. No doubt we are in the safe hands of Ramyasri Akka. Aha ..what an experience in going out in public like a lady..I recollected my T Nagar experience of being the odd man out among ladies..Sorry, I am not the odd man out and I am even a woman in the crowd. Now we got into a bus and everyone turned their faces around and staring at us like we are the angels fallen on the ground like in Axe deo advertisement..yes even angels can fall..and so here we are for you public...Cristy by sitting next to a guy on the bus raised his blood pressure to an all-time high..poor fellow no words to say but smiling himself and enjoying the company of Cristy sitting next to him..Of course, Cristy was looking like a bomb in her attire. Ramya Akka was very busy taking her family pics..I mean our pics...we found a decent admirer in the bus.. he is none other than the bus conductor. So the bus stopped and our admirer showed us the way and after stepping out of the bus OMG..OMG...WoW..beautiful ladies with deepam and carrying flowers for the goddess. They all dressed up with perfection and one can understand the amount of commitment they had in dressing up like that. While I was again lost in that wonderful mass suddenly I came back to the present when someone asked me in my ear Where are you from? You are looking beautiful? Hindi aa, Tamil aa..he kept on asking my questions...ok here I should not be lost from my group and simply followed Ramya Akka. Ramya Akka bought jasmine flowers for all of us and we all sisters decorated our long braid with flowers among each other. Wow-what a lovely feeling to be a girl. It's Darshan time... we entered into temple premises where another bunch of fellows is staring at us with their big gadgets.... cameras...Of course media people. hey, we are not here for a group dance boss we are here to see the goddess and fulfill our wishes...Ok, we ignored everyone and we focused on our work...finally, we had a good darshan and while returning we met a group of beautiful ladies from maharastra..they are Meena Patil, Mayuri Patil, Sonali Dixit, Nisha Divya, Simran Gill(Delhi), Reshma Mathur, Roopini jasmine, Priya Reddy, Pratima Laxmi(Bangalore), Asha ash(Bangalore), Saumya Nilambur Saumya(Kerala), Anamika Anu(Kerala), Dalia Ann(Kerala) and others... We all introduced ourselves and Ramya Akka and Cristy invited our Mumbai friends to Royal Palace for their birthday party on the next day.... So..Party begins..... on the second day of our Kollam trip

We all reached to Royal palace after finishing our visit to the temple. Everyone found very tired physically but is in a really good spirit psychologically. Some of our sisters were busy removing makeup and others fall asleep without hiding their blossom treasure with sari pallu. I decided to change into western wear from my current ethnic look for the night. I wore a dark navy blue color frock with white dots on it. I wore a short wig and made it braided into two ponytails. I changed my jewelry according to my western wear and went to bed to sleep. Someone called me by my name and woke me up in the morning the next day and I saw all boys around me and I wished good morning to all....and slowly walked into the bathroom and saw myself in the mirror...and the very first word that came out of my mouth was WOW!!!.... I admired myself for quite some time and someone knocked at the bathroom door and then I realized I had spent more than 30 minutes in front of the mirror admiring myself. I started removing my makeup and now I am back to abnormal..I mean I am into the male mode. Christy, Vijju, Sruthi sen and myself (in male mode)went to Kollam town to bring the birthday cake...We took a bus and left for Kollam and on my way to Kollam I realized that I didn’t remove my nail paint. All my 20 nails are glittering on a sunny day and drawing the attention of my co-passengers. One old man sat next to me was curiously watching me and my painted nails in red. I must say I have wonderful nails that most of the genetic women should envy about. We got down in Kollam and went to the cake shop and to my surprise the shop is been managed by ladies only ...right from cash counter to the one who bakes the cake...it might be the specialty of Kerala.Christy, Sruthi sen and myself were waiting for the cake and I observed some gossip is going on among the girls in the bakery...I was not sure about the subject of their gossip but I strongly believe that it's about me only...while on my way to the bakery I bought one pink churidar. I was showing to shruti sen in the bakery and suddenly one bakery staff lady came to us and asked me to show the dress that I held in my hand..while I was showing she noticed my nails painted in red. She called other ladies in the bakery and showed them my nails.... initially I felt a little uncomfortable because I am in male mode and having beautiful nails as women do..She asked me whether they are natural or artificial? I replied in the affirmative they are natural only..They complimented my nails...then I realized for a very small thing like nails also even women complement each other...may be that is the secret of their happiness.. Christy nodded her head, to tell the truth to the ladies and I told them that we were there for chamayavillakku festival and I even showed them my photos that were taken with my mobile the day before...They were all very happy and they completed us like anything with very simple words like beautiful, super and all. For the first time in my life, I felt the power of those simple words beautiful, super, etc.. The greatest jugalbandhi(combination) of their simple words with strong expressions of admiring was a lifetime achievement for me...

Now we came back to the Royal palace after bidding goodbye to the lovely ladies in the bakery. Everyone is busy in their makeup and my beautiful Ramya Akka is busy in a photoshoot wearing western clothing and giving mind blowing poses in the garden. Then immediately I jumped in and took the opportunity to capture the beauty of Ramya Akka with my camera...We both had a girly talk about the photos of Akka and had fun together.. All our Mumbai girls landed in the hotel for Ramya and christy’s birthday wearing designer wear saris and beautiful perfect fit blouses. I continued the job of photographer for some time and tried to store those beautiful moments in my memory as well as my camera memory card at the same time.. Yes..here comes the birthday babes..Ramya and Christy..looking lovely and one can sense the level of perfection they have attained by observing them keenly. I am a photographer for the day..so I just don’t want to miss a shot which is worth of million feelings...I have seen a lovely lady Pratima Lakshmi and adjusted my camera lens to take the best shots...when I focus on her for a moment I felt like she is looking lovely in her blue saree and giving poses like a brand ambassador of the Indian team and cheering them to bleed blue..now next to Pratima someone came and stood and that cute little college going girl is none other than Mayuri Patil...she is turning everyone’s heads towards her with her beautiful smile.. So, now Ramya Sri, Christy, Pratima, and Mayuri are getting ready to cut the cake...but the cake is not there...somebody is busy with the cake..its Deepa Priya giving poses to Vanitha’s camera as if she is going to finish off the cake all alone...while others are staring at her with their bewildered faces what she is going to do next...So Deepu’s(Deepa Priya) photo session with cake completed and everyone adjusted their vocal cords and started singing birthday song in the frequency of various radio stations..all of a sudden everyone stopped and started again with a common frequency...slowly I adjusted myself to the frequency and joined choros.... with a smile on faces everybody started wishing one after another those lovely birthday ladies....now cake cutting over and Deepu got lions share..and now she is busy with photoshoot... In the night we all had dinner at Vijaya palace when families are staring at us and discussing us....Actually here I tried to decode Malayalam...through people’s gestures and postures..ok let's take it for granted like all are talking about us...we all felt like that...because beautiful ladies always seek the attention of the public and so we did for that night. Ok Patry time...slowly some of our sisters started boozing and when our DJ’s taken charge to make the evening to a more electrifying evening with the item numbers...here one thing that totally wiped off our language barrier is Dance...yes our feet started moving and our hips started shaking to the rhythm of item numbers in all Indian languages...we enjoyed the time with girly moves..girls...girls..girls...dance..dance..dance..yes we all did girly dance..we forget what we are and we all played like item girls for the hottest night ever... After breaking the dance floor...now all slowly relaxed and started laughing by recollecting their dance moves and making fun of each other about their dance moves ..now one newton stood in the group and explained the idea she got..every body should participate in that event..the rules are 1. Everyone should tell their male and female names 2. Occupation 3. When and how did they start CDing and 4. They should entertain the group with a song of their choice and in any language...wow what an idea sir ji...this one also went wonderful and everybody have their own experiences and each experience is worthy of writing a hundred pages novel...thanks to our newton who could catch the idea apple fallen on her at the right time...this brought us more close to each other and everyone connected so deeply.. With heavy hearts to leave our friends and greeting each other by saying we will meet next year with more fun and praying for everyone unconditionally “May goddess shower her blessings on all of us and on all of our family members”.... That was a wonderful evening with the gathering I felt like we all sisters resemble the stars shining in the Milkyway. ...Every star is having her own brightness but they all prefer to shine together as a family....

P.S: This story of My Journey to Kollam is dedicated to all my sisters from Chennai & Kerala who has shown a lot of love and affection.
All the blog posts are real incidents that happened to me. I may take the freedom to change the names of the characters for the sake of privacy and will try to post the content as it happened.
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