SUMA at the nets, Opp Devi Temple, Koivila Post, Perumanseri, Thevalakara Panchayat, Kollam (2026)

06/09/2026

Everyone’s left. From Pavumba. Peter, Mridula and Arya (1,2) Shash and Ananya (3) Suma and I are left with the newspapers (16) Arya had a full experience of the Damodarans’ way of travel. We had decided to travel by train with Peter, Mridula and Arya to Trivandrum to see them off. Checking up the train running status on Rail Yatri and noting that the train was running 30 minutes late, we decided (against Suma’s advice) to delay our departure. As luck (the bad one) would have it, there were two religious events packed into that evening, one Hindu and one Muslim, and we got entangled in the resulting traffic restrictions, taking an extra 15 minutes to reach the station. Meanwhile, Rail Yatri had misled us, the train was only 9 minutes later. The travel math meant we were 36 minutes behind. And the auto that brought Suma, Shash and Suma dumped them on the wrong side of the tracks. As they were about to cross the tracks two trains, one in each direction, decided to sequentially cross by. We were now 19 minutes behind what was originally a 25 minute cushion.We made it to the train as it rolled in. Arya had a great time dancing (6), sitting on the floor (7) , waving to everyone. And one of that ‘everyone’ turned out to be Swaraj Thampi of the first ever XLRI batch I taught (as a visiting faculty, XL batch of 2001) (4) After being pushed into a corner of the seat (5) we subjected Swaraj to one of our clumsy goofs; Arya’s meal pouch was squeezed out onto Swaraj’s super-clean trousers. No amount of wet wipe wiping helped.The travel chaos-excitement continued the next morning. Since the airport was just next door to our Airbnb we timed our departure (against Suma’s advice again!) to squeeze out every last precious moment together. But then there was total chaos- and a wee bit of panic- as there was confusion again about the departure terminal.
Arya enjoyed her day in Pavumba on the day of departure going for her village walk, surveying the neighbourhood (8-10) She also got into a rare cuddly mood (she dislikes being cuddled (11-13) which was so contagious that Ananya got into a cuddly mood too (14)

04/09/2026

A window-side chat with Aunt Ananya (pic 1) for Arya framed by photos of all her great grandparents on the maternal side. We then had to proceed for lunch to the house of our Man Friday Raju to celebrate his daughter in laws baptism into the Christian faith (pics 2-4) In pic 2 Arya spies a pup; in Pic 4 Peter is being force fed! Peter teaches the kids a card game (pic 5) and is taught soccer as he plays barefooted for the first time in his life (pic 6) when we booked the village turf so that Shash (pic 7) and Peter could play with the village kids. The morning walk to the village temple, past the village mosque has become a daily ritual for Arya (pic 8 ). We then walked on to the village church just in time to see the Raju family walk out of church after the Holy Communion of their daughter in law (pic 9). It was back to Raju’s for lunch for the second day in a row; this time to celebrate the Holy Communion (pics 10-11). Arya also decided to learn carroms (pic 12) finally literally entering the playing arena (pic 13) Though she is a little sleepy (pic 14) she does her temple walk and watches as Peter grabs a Kerala paratha, early morning, at Basheer’s opposite the temple (pic 15) and then meets one of her many doggy friends on the way back (pic 16). Some indoor games (pic 18) and we are back outdoors as we walk to the oyster shelling shed (pic 19); I pick up a fisherman’s hat on my way and Peter tries it out (pic 20)

30/08/2026

Like Dire Straits’ Telegraph Road goes…..

First came Arya, with her parents
Then came the Kochi-ites with Pebbles
Then came the Bengalurueans with their sports kits

And finally we had a happy houseful with us, Arya, Peter, and Mridula; my brother Jay, wife Mallika, daughter Anisha, son Rahul’s wife Aarathi, and grand daughter Inaaya. And Pebbles. And Ananya and Shashwat (Pic 1).

The last few days have been a two-way acculturation process with Arya getting used to the Pavumban way of life and villagers of Pavumba getting used to the A***n way of life.

She went to the temple grounds (pics 2-3), went to the lake and explored our mud lane (pics 4-5); learnt how to take down tender coconuts (pics 6-7) and mend fishing nets (pic 8 ); took an open air bath (pic 9 people watching her do it) and swung on the swing in neighbour Suresh’s house (pics 10-11) that I fell off from (luckily no one captured a pic of that), had her post Onam fun playing with the flowers with the village boys (pics 12-13); roamed up and down the village street pics 14-15) stepping into every home and waving at every dog

She also found time to relax with us in the evening (pic 16) and watch the village kids and the rest of us play board/ card games (pic 17; I constantly lost at Dobbles; I think the rest were cheating). And she enjoyed playing with her cousin once removed (my brother Jay’s granddaughter) Inaaya and with Pebbles, my brother’s cute Lhasa Apso (pics 18-20)

26/08/2026

From Pavumba: Happy Onam World!

Keralam’s own flowery festival!

And we’re thrilled to have Arya, Mridula and Peter with us in the village(pics 1-3). We got Peter an Onam special flowery shirt!

Aadi was the most enthusiastic kid when it came to making the pookallam (pic 4). Reflective of Kerala’s inclusive nature, especially when it comes to Onam, kids across faiths came in to help in the making of the pookallam (pics 5-6,12) and lighting the lamp (pics 14-15) Initially the kids were against my idea of using a pot as a centre piece, saying it was ‘alambu’ a pain. They later took to the idea enthusiastically. And loved their creation (pic 19)

Arya tried to help (pics 7-8). And not once did she try to mess with the pookallam

Peter was entirely comfortable in his mundu (pic 13) earning the admiration of Arya (pic 9)And he had some of the village boys for company, donning mundus for the first time in their lives (pics 10,11). The wait for the payasam (pic 16) was worth it. Our local caterer Biju served up an amazing payasam and sadya. Arya enjoyed her first sadya (pic 17) and was full of dancing energy post sadya (pic 18)

18/08/2026

Just coming out of a lovely few days. Still savouring it.

We were lucky to host 4 absolutely lovely Gen Z kids at SUMA at the Nets. And who were they? Kids of GIM alumni who were in our classes about three decades ago; our student ‘kids’ of those days.

First to come were VT (Vijay Thomas) and Parul Verma (both GIM 1997-99) with their kids Rohan and Diya (pic 17). And then the next day came Raju Harilal (GIM 1994-96) with his daughter Uthara. And they were accompanied by Rajmohan Pillai (GIM 1994-96)

And the day after that we had Suma Nair (GIM 1997-99) coming in with her daughter Tanya. The most lovely kids all: Tanya, Uthara, Diya, Rohan

Suma’s stay overlapped with that of Raju and Rajmohan. So GIMers of non overlapping batches overlapped. And bonded (pic 9). Starting off with Raju helping Suma unlock her suitcase! (Pic 7). And Uthara and Tanya became friends (pic 12) and jointly became the favourite Chechis of the village kids. They played with them (pic 8 )and bonded so much with them (pic 14) that the village kids miss them bad now.

Rajmohan (now a trained, certified soccer coach) ran a soccer boot camp for the kids at the village turf. (Pic10; pic 11 is chai post soccer) Tanya and Uthara laid out the Onam Pookallam on the first day of Onam (pic 13). And Raju cooked. And strummed his guitar. And cooked. And crooned. And Suma Nair washed all the dishes.

It was not all work. They kayaked at Roomy’s Nest (pics 2-5)z And they cruised the Ashtamudi (pics 15-16) And visited the Neendakarra Fishing Harbour (pic 6)

We are thankful to all those Godies for blessing us with these times

By the way pic 1 is Suma gifting us an art piece (that she ferried with care thru disorganised new Navi Mumbai airport) that in her eyes symbolises teachers lending a helping hand to students to help them ascend!❤️

14/08/2026

When GIMers Parul Verma and Vijay Thomas (GIM 1997-99) came calling at Havisha with a Gen above (VT’s parents) and a Gen below: their lovely kids Rohan and Diya.

Wonderful time!

10/06/2026

Three years in Pavumba; more than the time we lived in our ex-work-places like Hyderabad or Kozhikode. This year we spent in Pavumba we have had 34 guests at SUMA at the Nets. Many more of our networks got represented for the first time. Almost every anchor point of my life has now found representation among our guests; we have to fill up a few from Suma’s though.

Two arrivals set the village abuzz this year. One when Robert and John came rolling into our mud path in their two vintage beauties, the 1926 Bentley Speed 6s. The second was that of Arya Damodaran Anderson.

Our guests have established scholarships for the village kids, helped with internships, booked slots for the soccer/ badminton; gifted laptops, initiated insurance policies, gifted cots for the families; gifted badminton gear and Monopoly, Pictionary, Chess and Masala Labs. Even a Table Tennis table has been gifted! Many guests are returning guests. So, our dream of guests not being just ‘flow’ (stay, leave, forget) but stock (stay, connect, return) seems to be happening! The adults in our village are being true to Mallu-ness. Many are in South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, GCC, Germany, UK, Croatia, Malta, Angola, USA, Israel eking out a living. The rest are hanging around tea shops discussing things!

Meanwhile we have planted mangosteen (a stubborn one that won’t fruit for 12-15 years); nutmeg (didn’t know it has to have a male-female pair); ber (the lady who sold it told us it is ‘Bear Apple’ and we bought it thinking it to be an exotic fruit); cashew (our favorite); clove (it is already dead); sweet lemon. We have already enjoyed the ‘fruits’ of our garden-labor: have harvested bananas, coconuts, curry leaves, chilies, and the Konna poo. We have got used to orchids blooming and mongooses sauntering by. We have renamed the Dusty from JH to KL; and been more than mere voters as we plunged into the local and assembly elections.

Come, stay with us at Pavumba. Become a Pavumber!

02/06/2026

Few places are as stunning and as beautiful on a map as they are in the real.

The Amritapuri Ashram of Mata Amritandamayi, is located on one such stretch, the Azheekal Coast in Kollam, Kerala. It is the unique combination of land, backwaters (6,7) and sea (5) that makes this thin strip of land such a striking visual even on a map. Check it out. There are spots where you can drive off into the Arabian Sea if you get distracted by the views. (8)

‘Even on a map’ because it is as stunning in the real. Especially on a cloudy yet bright day as today turned out to be when we took our friend and guest and ex colleague from TCS and GIM days, Mary Ipe, and our village kiddo Jenny on a drive out to Amritapuri. (1-3). Suma tries to hide within all that blue (4)

We wanted to check out, for Jenny, the Biotech and Microbiology courses that the Amrita University offers. Jenny is a bright, all A+ kid; the granddaughter of Bernard who operates a Chinese fishing net next to our plot on the lake. The Amrita Ashram is on the Western shore(9) of the backwaters, the University on the Eastern shore. A beautiful bridge connects the two campuses. (10-12). The views of the Ashram from across the bridge are stunning (13-15). The Ashram itself was all calm and beautiful (16-18)

We are thrilled to be hosting Mary. She was our Senior at TCS, our first work place. And then our Faculty Colleague at GIM. We have known her since 1988; she was one of the few invitees to our wedding!

29/05/2026

Capping off an XLRI week (we had Sankara Pillai -XL 1982-84- and wife Priya staying with us May 23-25) ex XLRI colleague and good friend Mathai Fenn and his son and our XL kiddo (no longer a kiddo) Amit Fenn staying with us at SUMA at the Nets May 25-26.

With 4 PhDs - and just the 4 PhDs- cooped up in a village home, the talk was all nerdy, but heady: bio computing, LLMs, Foundational Models, Financial Derivatives, Psychology & Counselling, Community Development, Stochastic Processes, Bayesian Statistics, genomes, DNA in the air, family histories including the fascinating history of the Baker Fenns….. And of course about food and drinks.

And so we had just one pic taken. And that too, this fella Amit gets magically blurred out in pics!

Happy times; Suma kept talking about how good the time spent was!

SUMA at the nets

06/09/2026

04/09/2026

30/08/2026

26/08/2026

18/08/2026

14/08/2026

10/06/2026

02/06/2026

29/05/2026

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Hotel

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Listing takedown request