brooding

there came this little bit of sun into my Saturday morning filling me with joy and enthusiasm to smile at the world...


...even my row of newly repotted aloe plants seemed to rejoice!


till less than an hour, when it was raining and sogging my spirits down..


except I don't know why I never got the serenity to accept and enjoy the moment like my wise little three year old!!

perusing

The last book I read was heavy. It was “the Last Mughal” by William Darlymple and the first book of its kind (a little text bookish and historic and purebred non-fiction) I read. I loved the description of character, opulence, routine life of India in the times of the Revolt of 1857.



And, I absolutely fell in love with this author, who so deliciously and ingeniously brought forward the nuances of each character, so much so, they actually talked and twitched and narrowed their eyes in my mind’s eye. There also is this chapter, where he brings forth the differences in the daily routines of the British Raj and life in the Mughal palace. The fluid way the chapter connected the two is sheer poetry in prose!



But, the book was one long chapter in my life and took me three seasons to see it through the end. No giggles or snickers when I show you the size of the teeny-weeny books I picked up last week. That two of them are collections of short stories is not coincidental at all.



With me now fighting for the much touted and overrated ‘me-time,’ I make it a point to read at least 10-15 pages daily. And, with short stories, you don’t need to book mark, or flip back to remember who’s who and, the best part, a sigh of contentment for at least one thing well done that day.

The title (I do exclaim these days!!) was what made me grab Roald Dahl’s book, while the picture on the cover of ‘the Last Mughal’ captivated me. And, in the case of the soft-spoken Ruskin Bond (I heard him on the TV), I knew I would love his descriptions of the people and sights of rural India. After all, he described and engaged me with his description of foliage and bees and mountains in ‘the Book of Nature.’
Then, these also arrived from Amazon. This is the Bible for now :)

too much too soon

Here I am, rejuvenated enough to see the little ones settling back in school, almost, effortlessly and hopeful of reading all the books I wanted to read, click though beautiful blogs at leisure, settling on my window seat and penning down my thoughts while I listen to the rain…
… when I am rudely awakened by a shrill squawk! There stand my husband and daughter with an African Grey parrot.



This is Kukku, the daughter shrieks and my open mouth and look of utter dismay (to say the least) prompts a sheepish grin from the husband. Kukku has the emotional intelligence of a two year old, he says… and, I am thanking the good Lord that Abi has finally turned three, I humph… the intelligence of a five year old… as if the smartass retorts of our daughter were not enough, I sigh… and a vocabulary of 2000 in another year… as if I don’t talk enough, I whined!



The birdie adapts to us before we do to her. We are more curious and wary that we might hurt her, but she is quite resilient, enjoys and demands attention and quite fun… till the day, the husband decided that kukku needs a friend and stood at the door with a three month old German Shepherd and 12kg of puppy food!



It was nothing but another rude surprise (because I don’t like the word shock) until the pup dodged the kids and friends of the kids, took one sniff of my chipped nail paint and flopped down at my feet there and then. Something between love and joy (or was it both?) surged in my heart, but it was too much too soon and I gave my husband “the look.”



The first two weeks, blackie, named ingenuously by the daughter, followed me everywhere – from chair to bed to sofa and back. But, now it is at home with the four of us, together or separate. Things are so much better since it has been toilet-trained. And, now that it is teething, I actually have the floor clear of clutter, which consisted of things quite needed in our daily life.



This is us now. Suhana actually has blackie in the family picture she drew of us spending the day at the seaside. I asked her why she forgot kukku, miss smarty replied, it was because kukku would fly away in the open sky. No contradicting that!


PS
Somewhere in between blackie came and I post this, I was overwhelmed, tired and cranky. That was when I decided, reluctantly, to end this blog, because I was hardly coming on-line, feeling uncreative and did not see any time for me in the next two years to do all that I had wanted to.
It was precisely, on Little E’s three-month birthday Shalini, and soon as I had posted on flickr, I was going to say my good byes to you (for you believed in me enough) and Shilpa (how I love her name and the little notes we share from time to time) and Sindhu (who must still be finding me as confused as I was when I sat next to her in journalism school and who, out of all of you, has actually seen me in person and all that I know of computers and laughter, she taught me ☺) and Asha (who is solace and inspiration and always gets my jokes) and Arundhati and Arya and Indrani and Susan, your comments do me proud.
Short story shorter, the Net connection was lost and I was unable to blog that day. The transmission problems still continue as does my blog.



But, thank you so much, each one of you!!

the weekend we were rained in

...not literally, because we actually dressed up and went out to a delicious dinner Saturday night. But otherwise, we stayed put in the house and watched movies on TV. I saw 'Nights in Rodanthe' and the movie especially stands out because it is set in a beautiful blue cottage by the sea and I ate five chocolate chip cupcakes while watching it. This was straight after lunch!

I'll just leave be the disturbing trivia and try to succinctly describe 'the weekend we were rained in.' The forecast and the skies were bleak, bleak, bleak. Bleak has a colour - the dreariest of grey.



But, beyond the colourless skies lay the most beautiful sight, that of the clouds lifting from the hills some distance away. I did sit there mesmerised at the wonders and subtlety of nature, not also because I was really, really full and could barely move!



I drank in the viivd greens and delighted in the dance of the rain drops. Very zen-like and uplifting...



...till I focused on the droplets on the lights hanging since Christmas last. blah!



Did I tell you we have a new pet - a German Shepherd pup that is called 'Blackie' by the daughter and 'Doggie' by the son.



Hope you all have a lovely week ahead and I better think of working off the calories I gained just sitting and eating.



But, aren't the greens just so divine and refreshing!!

do you know

...what she did last summer? The darling accompanied her mother on walks and discovered with awe the 'touch-me-nots,' chameleons and dragonflies, and lots of flowers!


She enjoyed her afternoon jelly sessions as much as she loved helping her grandmother pickle some mangoes in brine. I have to add, this girl loves her pani puri, raw mangoes and imli... does that make me a bad momma?


excuse the poor quality of picture, please :)


Some one insisted on picking flowers everyday so that she could float them in her (grandmother) ammamma's large crystal bowl and other steel utensils. She loved this!


I am sure she hoped her brother who tagged along everywhere would do more than lend moral support :D


Sigh! so much time to to indulge in games by herself!


Some days, we went on an embellishing binge, first sticking sequins on the bird cage...


... and, then on the terracotta chimes...


...and, a play dough bead necklace for me!


And, this is how we left things on the morning we left. I wish I had remembered to click the fridge door, the "painting wall of fame," that was just overflowing with painted papers and crafts.

this time around

... I was lucky to catch a week of the bright summer sun before the monsoons decided to blow our way. As is the case in Kerala, there were power cuts galore and we, cut away from the town and civilisation, were treated to a full night of black-out. Mom's candles flickered through the night attracting lots of insects because who could sleep with the windows closed in the oppressive humidity there.


The phone lines, and as a result of which the Internet, conked out with the very first thunderstorm. My toddler was feeling up to walks this time around and we did manage several rounds around the house, watched the cows being milked, looked for the pet turtle that didn't show up (unlike last year), picked flowers and watched the dragonflies buzz overhead on cloudy afternoons. Of course, two large tubes of odomos were completely squeezed out for the purpose of 'bite-free' walks.


I am a malayali and my parents live in Northern Kerala. But, no matter where you live in this state, you find coconut trees, baby coconuts and really old coconuts. Be careful walking under the coconut palms! Here is a humble attempt to beautify the crop.


And, then the rains came. And, not without drama. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed for more than two hours before the dark clouds relented and the parched ground drank it all, enveloping us in the most pleasant smell and really good feelings - just to see the rain fall!


There always was a beautiful soundtrack surrounding us, only the rhythm of the raindrops changed. But, no change of pace deterred the children from splashing in the puddles or simply stand, face and palms upward to the skies, letting the drops soak them through. Did give me a case of the jitters thinking of the unhappiness that would follow if one of them caught a cold or fever, but all went well.


The mosquitoes lessened considerably, the kids were nicely settled in the routine there and we got lots of time to catch up with news of the family from mom and news of my friends and their families from me. Of course, mom missed the picture updates that happens when both of us sit for hours before the computer and she looks through pictures of my friends and their babies on orkut and facebook.


It was a neat break, though, a trip somewhere would have been nice. But, then, these were carefree days sans planning and itinerary, with a pace and cadence all of their own. The true essence of summer holidays - freedom and no set time for anything... oh! except probably for the daily power cut there :)

long time!

Its been such a long time and really nothing much has happened in between! Its summer no more, but, cool and wet monsoon season now. Its been less than a week that I've been back from the annual holidays spent with the parents and the parents-in-law. A long list of "things to do" awaits me, but, its now time to sit awhile and sip some tea and just BE. Let the chores wait :)

summer, pleasures... and quotes

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time. ~John Lubbock



Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it. ~Russel Baker



I question not if thrushes sing,
If roses load the air;
Beyond my heart I need not reach
When all is summer there.
~John Vance Cheney



There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart. ~Celia Thaxter



Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language. ~Henry James



In summer, the song sings itself. ~William Carlos Williams



I have always loved summer, maybe because I was born in this season :)

of boldness, or the lack there of

This quote jumped at me from the last page of the newspaper this morning.



In contemplating the words, I found an easy excuse not to get up from where I sat long after the tea was gone!



I made a note of them words in my diary for the year!



Might as well click some more of the broken tea cup, the old soap dispenser and the ancient candle as long as I was mulling it over...



Not a bad start to a sunny, very much routine, ordinary day. To prove the point, a picture with no point at all.



Hope it was a nice day for you all :)

December

waking up to foggy mornings and drinking litres of ginger tea!


winter carrots in the markets, lots of juice to get a glowing skin :)


eating, eating, eating so much that you don't even remember what it was!!


celebrating the merry season and the year to come


... sadly, all good things come to an end and you move on!


hope you all had a lovely holiday season and wishing you happiness and abundance and all things nice for 2010 :)