Chennai Diaries

May 24 - We left sharp at 7:15 am as our driver picked up the vehicle after service only at 5:30 am. We reached close to Madurandhagam where we had breakfast. There were a lot of maintenance work on the road as they are building a road connecting ECR with Kanyakumari. We used NH 45 up to Ulundurpettai and then diverted towards Virudachalam, Chidambaram, to Vaitheeswaran Koil. When we reached Vaitheeswaran Koil, it was close to 2 pm. All the restaurants such as Sadabhisekham and Kanakabhishekam were all booked due to Muhurtham and no food was available. We went backwards to Sirkazhi to have lunch and then came back to have dharshan at Vaitheeswaran Koil. It was 4:30 when we left from there and reached Kumbakonsm around 5:30 pm. My wife wanted to stay at Manthira Kudam in Veppathur. We reached there and they asked for passport and OCI copies as we didn’t have any local IDs. Luckily I had soft copies in my phone and they allowed us to check in. It is actually a cottage located deep inside the village surrounded by woods. Nice facility with restaurant, massage center, etc. It is nice to see Peacocks around. It seems the dinner begins at 7:30 pm. Tomorrow morning breakfast is free. We have stayed once here 5 years ago recommended by my cousin. It is a bit expensive but a nice experience once in a while.

 

May 24th - We had a great dinner last night. Manthira Kudam offered traditional/local food and I was a bit surprised to see Vettrilai Sadam in the menu. I didn’t take a chance and ordered Uthappam while my wife ordered Vettrilai Sadam. She suggested to taste a little which I did. It was not bad. She picked up the recipe from the Chef.

We woke up at 6 am to leave for Swamimalai and by the time we were ready it was 7:00 am. The breakfast was offered at 7:30 am. One Sakkara Pongal, Kitchadi, idli, mini podi idli, uthappam with variety of chutneys and sambar. We had a sumptuous breakfast and left for Swamimalai. My wife stayed in the car as she had knee issues. I went up the hill to worship our Kuladeivam and returned 45 minutes later.

We left for Tanjore to pick up the Tanjore paintings (Gods and Goddesses) for the new house. We stopped around 2:30 pm in A2B in Ulundurpettai and are on our way to Chennai now.

The pillars we ordered reached our site today.Tonight, I will place orders for air conditioners and lights and tomorrow I need to apply for encumbrance certificate for my in-laws property as I need to change the property from my father-in-law to my MIL and my wife. They are ready to give approval subject to this.

 

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May 24th - We had a great dinner last night. Manthira Kudam offered traditional/local food and I was a bit surprised to see Vettrilai Sadam in the menu. I didn’t take a chance and ordered Uthappam while my wife ordered Vettrilai Sadam. She suggested to taste a little which I did. It was not bad. She picked up the recipe from the Chef.

We woke up at 6 am to leave for Swamimalai and by the time we were ready it was 7:00 am. The breakfast was offered at 7:30 am. One Sakkara Pongal, Kitchadi, idli, mini podi idli, uthappam with variety of chutneys and sambar. We had a sumptuous breakfast and left for Swamimalai. My wife stayed in the car as she had knee issues. I went up the hill to worship our Kuladeivam and returned 45 minutes later.

We left for Tanjore to pick up the Tanjore paintings (Gods and Goddesses) for the new house. We stopped around 2:30 pm in A2B in Ulundurpettai and are on our way to Chennai now.

The pillars we ordered reached our site today.Tonight, I will place orders for air conditioners and lights and tomorrow I need to apply for encumbrance certificate for my in-laws property as I need to change the property from my father-in-law to my MIL and my wife. They are ready to give approval subject to this. I learned today that it is customary to give gifts to those who worked at our site building the house. There were about 50 people worked on it at various stages. The builder recommended to give Rs 2,000 each to each worker besides Rs 3,500 to 7 supervisors. This totals to over Rs 1,00,000/- which I didn’t budget earlier.

 

Any guidance as to what is customary to give to the laborers after completion of construction? I am a bit shocked about Rs 1,00,000/- plus estimate @Rs 2,000 per laborer snd Rs 4,000 for Maestri (7 of them)

 

Thank you for your response Sir.

 

How many in total?