sights this morning

its summer when...

... you wake up to this!



... you swear you can't drink another cup of hot tea ever again!



... so, you drink glass after glass of iced tea and refreshing ginger-lime!



... breakfast is leftovers of a light sago-pineapple payasam straight out of the fridge. Originally made as a cool dessert for a summer night :)



... strong, dark shadows by 7.00 am.



... the kitchen window (reflected below) brings in orange-yellow light, which is so different from the creamish glow of winterlight.



... and schools will shut for holidays and our annual trip to Kerala. Can't wait :)

foot notes

I was wandering through the main road of Kalamboli, weighed down by the weekly stock of chicken, fish and vegetables. And, as always, I marvelled with glee at the variety of anklets and toe rings and shades of nail polish on other women's feet.

I am wierd that way, liking people for their hands and feet and, sometimes, judging them too harshly for their hands and feet or choice of nail paint! But, I can't help it if the sun is up and it helps to keep your head down and walk.



But, that day, I was feeling tired in spirit and wearied minds make you a wee bit reckless. So, I walked in the nearest silver shop and asked the teenager lighting agarbattis (incense stcks) if they were open.

I bought the first pair I laid my eyes on because it soon became evident that there really was not much choice. aren't they a dainty pair?



Though, I must add, I so wished I had stocked up on all those quirky toe-rings, enamelled and bejewelled, and especially the ones with jhoomars and little bells!! I regret those times I shook my head saying they're not my style :(

But, now I can be on the look out for the jhattak and mast styles. Oh! am dying for a walk through Hill Road or Colaba Causeway!!

... and, mere haseen feet ka secret ...



Ahem! Just in case, this feet-fetish-phase of my life ends too soon, there'll always be a place for these simple beauties in my life forever :)




PS
...all this drama over a pair of toe-rings??

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 :)

the blues

Oh! but I have a serious case of the Monday blues. It sets in sometime after Sunday lunch and am unable to shake it off until Monday breakfast, which usually is butter soaked toast!!



Sometimes I cock a snoot at Monday. Do not acknowledge it at all, make an (very)easy to-do list, shrug and get on with (life) whatever needs to be done.

Sadly, not one of those Mondays today. Blah!!

TGIF

My son and I slowly walk back from the front gate after seeing the yellow school bus take the turn far away. I usually am making lists in my head during this time. Today, I feel tired.

As we do everyday, he drinks another glass of milk (he wakes earlier than his sister) and me another cup of tea. I do linger a bit too long after this cup is empty. I almost feel guilty to be so tired, after all the facilities at hand.

Yet my neck hurts, my dining table is cluttered and I don't want to look at the toys and 'things' strewn about for fear I'll cry. How? Why?, I whisper.

Two things come to me, almost flash before my eyes - too much multi-tasking and trying to smile all the time. I am always doing two things, at least, all the time. Watching TV and ironing/feeding the kids/ sorting clothes, cutting vegetables or talking on the phone and typing away at the computer and whatever else I'm doing, I'll constantly be answering to all the " whys?" of a four year old.

I can still deal with all of this, if not for having to sound nice all the time and forcing a smile at people who feel I have so much time in the world because my husband is away for days together at work, I think. Then why do I, ugh!

I like the way my life is right now, it almost hurts to think of cutting off from any one thing. I will have to find a way.

languid saturdays

... are for hot pancakes floating in golden syrup and melting butter :)

Most mornings I wake up to the doorbell ring. Sauntering through the dark hallway, I open the door to find two litres of milk in four half-litre packets. The milk is pasteurized and packed and delivered, as is the norm in India.
The sight of these milk packets, more than the alarm clock, signals the start of my day. I pour the contents of two packets to boil and on another burner, water for my tea.
I like this time of the day, or night - as it is dark outside. As the aroma of the tea wafts around the kitchen, my still sleeping brain wakes up. I inhale deeply, stretch sometimes... and starts the day, and the grind!