I’m back to my city in the Southern tip of India after a significant three years far away in New York. The local festival season of Pongala is a great time to roam over the bustling suburbs, to explore the trends of my lovely city.

As I walked, I could not but stare at the display window of the dilapidated shop on the side walk.

The sight of a young princely man in a photo frame…he was not any of our Rajas..he was not one of our curly hair chested film heroes either..! I was curious, but then who?

He was the employee of that tiny dark tailoring shop in the suburbs, as mentioned by his employer.

At a point when young men of his age might be dreaming of suits, did he rewind a century behind? No, its the balance sheet of a prosperous religious soap season that ended a few months back on our television channels, when my grand parents piously clamped themselves to the chairs post dinner, hesitant to even attend phone calls. The young tailor was an actor in one of such godly soaps.

Well, this is not a pressing issue in any case, but a curious look at the changing visual landscape of Kerala, discovered over a year of mundane travel across some districts. As our favourite stars Mammootty and Mohanlal migrated to brand ambassadorships of Kalyan and Malabar groups, more girls have started climbing the hoardings of local jewelery shops, not to speak of pan Kerala – Middle east jewelers!

Other local services such as tailoring, hair cutting and fancy shops resorting to cheaper versions of flex boards as opposed to hand painted hoardings. Both ways, Mollywood and its support for local businesses are in a phase of transformation in its visual form and delivery!

Super (Mega) star Mammotty is definitely existing on the walls and shutters of Kerala, perhaps the numbers and variety are a little lean compared to the diverse roles he has handled!

Rest of the series can be found here and here.

It may be refreshing to remind us the legacy of Architect Laurie Baker every once in a while, at a point of time when we should definitely be re-thinking of  what resources are we left with and how imperative it is to value every grain of sand, every drop of water, every breath of air..and every inch of green! Trivandrum had been extremely fortunate to have him around for so many years…many of his creations are already been pulled down…some are still living through..here are a few of them!