The change

Last weekend, me and G went vegetable shopping. As we were scanning and examining few vegetables (What!!! each piece has to be checked ), a girl who was standing behind me interrupted us.

Girl: Excuse Me
Me : Yes
Girl: Can you please tell what is this? (Pointing to a bunch of leafy vegetable)
Me: It's Corriander
Girl: So Whats the difference between this and this (pointing to another section where coriander was)
Me: (Got a doubt, picked up one bunch, sniffed it) This is also coriander. Both of them are.
Girl: Thank you.

Later when I turned back, G said, you should've said one is Nati(local) other one is not. We just laughed over it and came back home.

But this reminded me of those days when I couldn't tell the difference between Daals (lentils), I dint know what was the base ingredient of lot of dishes. I remember calling mom to ask for recipes.

As time flew, I got better with this stuff, and there were times when I was telling mom about recipes, and helping her in identifying a lot of the non indian ingredients.

So when we came back home, and me and G were thinking of an unusual dish to prepare, the transformation just hit me. How things change, and how we grow up....

Golden Pears

Its been so long since I have written anything here in this space. Its not that I dint have ideas. Sometimes I have a written an entire post, but its all either in my dream or when I am lying down on the bed, and in no mood to open my laptop to post.

And that's why my one or 2 readers I donot have any post for so many months.

Going forward, I am going to try to publish atleast 1 post a week.

By the way, we get this fruit called Golden Pears, near our house. I am obsessed with it right now. They are so juicy. I love succulent fruits. I bring one fruit to office and its already sliced into 8 pieces. And I keep munching on them every hour or so. That way my craving to eat something is satisfied and I am not thinking of junk food. Lets see how long this is going to continue. And guess what, this made me open up my blog and publish a post. So Golden Pears, this post is dedicated to you :)

A Void

So the challenge is over.. I scraped thru.. but the best part was my mind was always thinking what do I write with this alphabet. I would think of many words buy then couldn't write anything beyond 2 sentences, so I would reject it.

At times I would have dreamt of a word and written a post about it too. In the morning when I would wake up, I couldnt remember the word, forget the entire post.

And sometimes at the middle of work something would strike and I would note down those points, lest I forget.

The last few days were very hectic, work wise and blogging wise... next time may be I will plan better.

Who am I kidding.. but I am already waiting for the next challenge 

Z for Zoo

Zoo is a short form of zoological garden, I think. There are reservation forests, Tiger reserves, lion reserves, elephant reserves where we try to keep these animals in their natural habitat. We don't interfere in their hunting or the way they lead their life. Well, most of the times.

But the zoo is a different game altogether. It's a place where the animals are given shelter, they are fed on a timetable, the same quantity everyday. I am not sure if it's the same taste everyday too. The animals don't have to hunt. They are all kept mostly separate, unless they are veggies ie the herbivores.

For the people who visit the reserves, they follow protocol, no talking,  screaming , feeding animals in short it's made sure we don't disturb them in their home. And after all this there might be a 1% chance to get a glance at the animal.

Now, in the zoo, we do everything. Talk among ourselves,  scream at the animals or at each other. Sometimes trying to feed them nuts or even popcorn. And whatever you do to offend them, they are still obligated to show their face,  well they definetly cant run away.

Zoo is therefore a museum of animals, which in reality is possibly a Jail.

Y for Yellow

Yellow yellow dirty fellow, this is a very common phrase heard. Agreed yellow is a little risky colour, but it's not always dirty. There are various shades of yellow which are subtle and easy on the eyes. It's considered a summery colour. It's Infact supposed to be colour of the sun.

Sunshine is associated with yellow. Everytime we would draw the usual drawing of 2 hills and half sun peeping out of those hills. The sun would be coloured yellow.

Sunflower, one of the very beautiful flowers is yellow in colour. And it's such a unique flower that it always faces the sun.

For my niece's birthday, we did a sunshine theme party and all of them were required to come in yellow. That's when many of us realized we did not have anything in yellow. I had only yellow shoes, and wondered why i did not have any yellow clothing.

It's a very tricky colour and choosing the right shade of yellow elevates your look. Right now in our place, the sun is painting the town yellow 

X for X-ray

I hadn't seen a lot of X-rays as a kid. But I knew that they were of the size of an A-4 sheet. They were black in colour and the bones would appear white. Also you can't make out anything if it's not held against the light. I also knew that a big machine was used for this.

The first time my X-ray was taken, the machine was not a big one. And when I saw the result, my x-ray, I was shocked. It was the smallest I had ever seen. It was the size of a passport size photograph.

I couldn't believe it. But what I saw there made me believe it. It was my broken tooth afterall. A small sheet which was inserted. A camera like thing was used and my X-ray was done.

So it was the same thick, yet transparent  black sheet with white images but of a miniature size. I wondered how even a common thing like X-ray had me worried, not because of what was in there, but only because of the size. 

W for Watch

Watch - it's an instrument which tells us time. It's a complicated machine in a small covering. It's just like time in many ways.

I am crazy about watches. I got my first watch when I was in 5th standard. It was a HMT watch. At that time, probably one of the best in India was HMT watch. It was a winding watch and everyday I would check if the time was set properly and would make sure it ran correctly.

As I grew I got more watches, some fashionable, some with dials of different shapes,  some with metal straps, some with leather straps, some of them with interchangeable straps. In US i bought quite a few watches, some with matching bracelets, some straps with studs.

Then for our second anniversary G got me a Titan Raga watch, which till date looks so elegant. Everytime I wear it I get so many compliments.

As of now, the number of watches I own is in 2 digits. And I still have my old HMT watch with me.

Anybody gifting me a watch?  

V for Voice

Every person has a unique voice. Not everybody can be melodious, and not everybody sounds like a broken radio.

I was very interested in joining music class. And I did join the carnatic music class when I was in 4-5 std. I used to love those classes. Since we were only a few of us it was individual lessons that we would get.

This meant when our teacher taught the kids some advanced lessons,  I would be more interested, and would listen to them singing with eagerness and also in my mind imagine me singing those songs.

After few months, after the initial sa re ga ma and swara and different talas, we reached my first song - lambodara kakumikara and after couple of weeks reached the 2nd song kereya neeranu kerege chali. 

By this time, I was made the class monitor and after much screaming in the class my voice broke. Just like that, my melodious voice became broken radio.

After that date, everyone who knows me asks me to sing only to tease me. Ofcourse in Antakshari, they need me, since I know lot of songs, but I am definetly not the solo singer type. That is reserved only for G. After he married me, so he is tied to my voice as well forever.

U for Umbrella

U have seen varieties of umbrellas in my life. Most prominent are the black ones. And nowadays there are so many pretty ones with designs. There are rainbow coloured umbrellas which look so pretty that I actually bought one in one of the tragic signals. How many times have I used it? Probably a couple of times. The reason being it's huge. It doesn't fit in my bag and only I am stepping out of the house for a walk to a store, do I use it.  And if it's raining, unless it's an emergency I wouldn't step out. I would rather sit by the window watching the drops splash around letting few drops on my face. Anyway I digress.

So I have a brown umbrella with small white dots on it. It's foldable, easily fir in my bag. Before that I had another small one which was blue and had pretty flowers on it. Well I exchanged the brown one with my mom coz I loved that more than the blue one.

At home we also have that big black umbrella which was used in the olden times by uncles as a walking stick too. That umbrella reminds me of our olden times so much. 

During school times instead of umbrellas we had to take raincoats. I used  to hate them. They would stick to you but made sure you stayed dry. This was the time I had seen the umbrella which could just be fit to your head. This was usually worn by kids. A colourful rainbow umbrella which had a band attached, thus could be fit to your forehead.

Those were hands free umbrellas. I really loved them, but never owned them. Even today I have seen people selling them. But it's only for kids. I don't mind buying one if somebody is selling it for adults. 

Hands free umbrellas for adults. Anyone? 

T for Tension

Exams are on next day and I am busy watching TV or I have slept on my books - reason Tension.

I have lot of work to finish, I keep pushing it for the last minute, at that time I either go to sleep or watch TV - reason Tension.

I am very restless, I am very sad, I am frustrated, I don't know what to do.
What do I do then?  Guessed it right... I either watch TV or sleep.

Generally people don't get sleep if they are tensed. I deliberately sleep, my mind possibly thinks the situation can be avoided by sleeping, while all that time I am aware that I am just procrastinating and nothing else. I watch TV not because I find the program interesting but only because I want my mind to wander off and not think about the existing problem.

I try to find other ways to deal with tension, one now is ofcourse reading blogs sometimes light read books. But whatever I do unless I go and deal with the problem they will never go away. Tension can be avoided and pushed but it will not vanish.

S for Saaru

I am not talking about the pronunciation of the word Sir in different ways. Saaru is the kannada word for Rasam. But unlike rasam we do add vegetables and daal. At times, it is made without veggies and daal too. But there are 3 main ingredients which make this taste amazing. Uppu, huli and khara. Uppu is salt. Huli is the tang, which comes in either from tamarind or sometimes from tomatoes. Khara is the spiciness or the hotness or the chilliness. Apart from this anything which is added is a bonus on the saaru.

This is a part of staple diet in most of the households. There might be variations, but the base is probably the same everywhere. The way its prepared now is, the tamarind is soaked in water for some time, and once the daal is boiled and cooked, the salt and chilli powder is added, and the juice from the tamarind pulp is extracted and that’s poured in the daal mixture. After it comes to a boil, it tempered with mustard seeds, asafetida, curry leaves.

As kids we had a different version of this, and we prepared a solid version of this, tamarind pulpy pop. So one day after school, we decided to make it. One of us had got tamarind, chilli powder and salt from home. With a stone we ground the tamarind pulp, salt and chilli powder, adding water little by little. And after a long wait and few minutes, we had the tamarind pop ready. Its like the tamarind peppermint we get in the stores. The one we ate, that day was not packaged better, looked ok, but taste was priceless.

R for Respect

Respect, a very commonly used word, but possibly a very rarely understood word.

What is respect?
Whom do you give respect to?
Why should you respect someone?
How should one show their respect towards others?
And finally, when should you start respecting someone or stop respecting them?

Everytime we meet a person, these should be a few questions we might want to find answers for.

It is said we must respect our elders. Of course no denying it, but let's first decide if they deserve our respect or not. And this goes for everybody. At first, it's good to have some courtesy . After we have few conversations, let's think if we can answer all these. But in most cases, respect for a person jus emerges, just like love.

If we love a person, it goes without saying, we respect and trust the person. If we don't, then it's probably not love.

Sometimes it do happens you do respect a person and over time, there are certain circumstances, which make you realize, the said person was not really worth the respect you had for him/her.

This was all about people. But what about these phrases:
Respect other languages,  other cultures,  other religions other countries. Can we really respect them. Unless we know about them or have an experience with them, we can't really do that. We can acknowledge all these,but can we respect all of them equally. That's the food for thought.

Till the next post: keep acknowledging but think twice about giving any respect 

Q for Question

Questioning is an art? Depending on the question you get suitable answers. Your knowledge increases, the more you ask questions. It increases your thinking ability and makes you a rational and logical person. The 5 main questions which sum up an entire questionare are :
How?
What?
Why?
When?
Who?

Ofcourse these are just the templates. What you do with them? Why are you doing that? With whom are you doing ? How are you planning to do? By when would you do it?

These questions will answer most of your questions.

As a kid, I was a very curious person and ask lot of questions. Sometimes people would get fed up of me or say that I would not understand. But that did not stop me from asking questions.

Even now I ask a lot of questions. You should not be embarrassed that you are asking a stupid question. It might be stupid for someone else... but may be very important to you. And a lot of times it so happens that so called stupid question actually solves a problem.

Never underestimate a question and never look down upon the person questioning you. Atleast the person is attempting to listen and understand what you are saying. Respect that.

P for people person

“Are you a people person?” is a very common question.

When I ask this question to myself, I don’t have one answer. Sometime it is yes, sometimes it is a no.

 

Earlier, I think , I was more of a people person. I always wanted to be surrounded by people. Even though I liked my “me time”, I would love to be with others. As time flew, I met different kind of people. Some of them like minded, some of them, totally different from mine. This was still ok, as long as we were not hurting each other.

 

Slowly, I started enjoying only with few people. And, with the rest of them it was more of an obligatory conversation. I probably moved on from being a people person to not so people person. It’s not that I don’t like talking to people. I still love it. But its only with a selected few people. Only with those whom I feel I can enjoy with, or I want to share my moments with. It doesn’t mean, I don’t talk to people whom I am not very fond of. I am courteous to them, but it’s not that I wish to have them around me.

 

A lot of times, I have heard from people, that I have possibly changed. Well, what can I say, I have changed, and for the better. So, when I am with people whom I like and love I am a people person. Well for the rest of the world, choose your own people.

O for Orange

Well, no it’s not the fruit, it’s the color I am talking about here. Every time we ask somebody their favorite color, it’s usually, black/white/pink/blue/red/yellow/green. Very rarely do you get to hear Orange.

Well, I don’t know if it’s my favorite color either. It’s not that I want to see this color all the time. Or It’s not that my wardrobe is full of outfits of this color.

But the best place where I like this color is, when it adorns the sky twice a day.

Sunrise and Sunset, these 2 amazing phenomenon, without which our world cannot survive, witness the beautiful shades of orange.

Every morning and evening, its seems like somebody has taken the sky for a canvas and painted it with different shades of orange. You can just forget yourself and be one with nature during this time.

Well, if somebody asks is this phenomenon a favorite of mine, I would say, look at my blog title.. You will see a beautiful sunrise. And for now, my background – Fire, also indicates the same.

We were told as kids sun rises in the east and sets in the west, later we realized, sun is going anywhere, but it’s us on earth revolving around the sun. Well, whatever may be the theory, this phenomenon has the power to make people stop whatever activities they are doing and take a glance at it and smile atleast once….

As long as Sunrise and Sunset, splash the sky with the vibrant Orange, our world is alive.

N for Nest

Isn't it fascinating to see birds build their nest. They gather sticks and twigs from places, and form such an intricate and delicate home for themselves.

During school, I remember we had a lesson on different kind of nests. Not all birds build the same kind of nests. Not all of them build them with the same material as well.. Some use twigs, some use thread kind of materials.

My favourite among them was the nest of the tailor bird. It's so intricate and also looks so beautiful. One day I would want my nest to be as beautiful as I find the tailor bird's nest... 

M for Mango

It's summer... There is one fruit which everybody waits for in this season and it's MANGO.

My love for Mango has been there forever. As kids, during summer vacations we go visit our paternal grandparents. There were few mango trees in our house and the summer vacation meant eating mangoes to our heart's content. A mango after breakfast, a mango after lunch, a mango after dinner...oh yeah and if you are bored and want to just munch on something then have a mango.

I am so fond of mangoes that, I scare every fibre out the seed and make it white. People even tease me that one day I will gulp the seed as well.

After everyone moved away from that place, we used to eat the mangoes which were bought outside. The mangoes which were artificially ripened or which looked artificially yellow...it was sad state eating those mangoes.

My parents now have 2 mango trees. And the precious time we had super fun eating all those mangoes. This year we have already got the unripe new ones and the pickles and chutneys are ready... Once the mangoes are ripe enough we will start gorging on them too...

Bring them on this season. The pic below is from my parent's garden.

L for Love

Love is a very generic and commonly used simple word. In spite of being so common and simple, it's such a powerful word.

Is this a feeling from the brain?
Is it an emotion from the heart?

It is something which can be defined in many ways and yet it remains undefined. This is not restricted to any particular gender, age, living/non living, tangible/intangible. You can love anything in this world. You can love life.  You can love nature. You can love materialistic stuff. You can love something or somebody near you. You can also love something or someone who is miles away from you.

It need not be a mutual feeling, if you love something or someone there is no binding that it has to be reciprocated. Love is always unconditional. If it's not, then it's not LOVE 

K for Kites

It's not a bird, it can look like one
It's not an aeroplane, it can look like one
It's not superman, it can fly like one. Well not really, but it would if there is good wind. What am I talking about? The kite.

My maternal uncle was very good in making and flying kites. We would take the newspapers, the Broom sticks a bowl of rice and bundles of thread, go to the terrace and make lot of kites. Then he would show me to how to fly the kite..

Once the kite would go to a certain height, he would tie to the metal string used to hang clothes for drying. We would fly 4-5 kites together.

I never learnt the art of flying kites, but it was always fun with my uncle. The precision with which he would bend the Broom sticks and how we would stick them to the paper, then let it dry and go on to make the next one.

I mat or may not fly a kite in the future. But the moments I had with my uncle learning and enjoying flying the kites are priceless. I will always cherish them

J for Juice

It's summer and the best way to hydrate yourself is to drink lot of water. But since water is supposed to be tasteless, it would really help to add some taste to it. Isn't it?

There are loads of fruits available, but in summer we might not want to eat them, even though they are juicy and succulent. What's the best way then to have these nutrients - make juice out of it.

Although juice is not the best way to eat fruits, it helps if you are no way going to eat them.

But the master of all juices is lemon juice... Isn't there a saying: when life gives you lemons make a lemonade. For the calorie concious, instead of sugar make salty lemonade, it's very tasty...

Take 2 lemons and salt and a litre of water. Keep sipping the lemon juice for an entire day or for a few hours. Dehydration this summer will be far far away.

Lemon juice a day keeps the summer heat away.

I for Ice

Its colourless, its odourless but definetly not shapeless.

As children, there were lot of restrictions consuming ice. It was a luxury to have a fridge, unlike today where it’s a necessity. And it’s mainly used for juices, sherbets especially in summer. Ofcourse there were times, when we would just pop an ice cube in our mouth and it used to be so cold, that you couldn’t spit it out, neither could you gulp it, and you would hope it melts soon, and the numbness is gone.

 Years ago, when I went to US for the first time, I saw people carrying ice from the machine to their desk, and eat it just like that. I used to feel it was weird. I tried that once, and what can I say, I was hooked. It served dual purpose. One, if I wanted to pop something in my mouth, so that I could get the feeling of eating, I could just put a small piece of ice in my mouth. Second, I wasn’t eating any junk food, and it was plain water, which I was err eating. This way my water intake could increase. Ofcourse there was no weight reduction due to this. And I won’t blame it either, there were other times, when I have had junk food.

The thing that I observed was, earlier when I would try to eat ice, my teeth would go numb, my gums would go numb, and at times, I would get headache. But, when I did this in US, I never had that problem. Was it because, the ice was cylindrical and had a hole. May be the quantity of ice per pop was lesser, and so my mouth wouldn’t get number. Whatever the reason was, I enjoyed the phase of eating ice.

Even now, when the mocktails come with ice cubes, I keep playing with the cubes in my mouth. But I don’t enoy it as much as I used to in US. Maybe if I see it in the same shape.. my mind might say – Ice Ice Baby.

H for Hiking

My first ever hiking experience, was when during my 9^th std holidays. We were to do hiking in the pristine Himachal. As kids, going on a 2 week trip was a very big deal. That was the first time I was travelling away from my family for such a long time. We trekked in the jungles and montains of himachal. We reached the tip of the snow point. It was the first time, I saw snow, the first time I touched it, the first time I felt how snow could numb you. The 1 week hiking taught me many things. Ofcourse as a school kid, I did not realize much. But as I think about it even now, I know, it’s been a great learning experience.

Well, after that for a few more years, I don’t think I did much of hiking. I started working and then, with G and his hiking friends, went hiking to KumaraParvata. This is one of the most difficult hikes I have ever done. Although we climbed from the Somwarpet side and got down from the Kukke side, climbing was a very big challenge for me. The peak is one of the most difficult ones in Karnataka. There was even a rock which was around 45 degrees, which we climbed, without any support to hold down. If not for G’s encouragement, I would have never completed the hike. Once we reached the peak I was ok. I don’t have much problems, getting down the hill, somehow I manage to get down, without much exhaustion. It’s mainly the going up part which is difficult for me. We had stayed overnight at a mantap there. The next morning, was one the most beautiful mornings of my life. All the exhaustion and pain which we endured the previous day was gone. Till date, I haven’t gone again to hike here, since I don’t know if I can do it once again.

We have been to quite a lot of smaller ones. Everytime, my worry is until we reach the peak, the moment I look up, my brain goes into denial mode. The moment I realize, its time to go down, my brain eases up, and I feel like a free bird.

2 years back, we went to Tadiandamol, the second highest peak in Karnataka. It was an amazing experience. We hiked in rain all the time. This hike had everything, plain land for a while (a nice breezy walk), a slight incline in the beginning, a thick forest in the middle, where the roots of the trees formed the steps, and then the final steep incline, where if you slip you go down few feet, with no support. The best part was the peak. It was so cold and windy that day, I realized what pins and needles actually meant. I could feel every little hair in my body being pulled from me. Infact it was so cold, I was already thinking of options on how G and my brothers were going to carry me all the way down, coz I felt like dying out of cold. The steep incline was the most difficult to get down, since it was all slush due to rain. Once we crossed that, I felt much better. All this was happening with rain as a background. It no longer felt wet anymore, we were drenched upto our bones, or so I would like to believe. Ofcourse the next day I had fever, and unbearable body pain. Was it worth it? Totally yes.

What do you bring back as souvenirs? Well, there might be scratches. There might be leech bites. There can also be scars. But what’s most important you bring back great memories. Every time I go on a hike, I have inhibitions, I have a feeling, I will not be able to complete it. There are times, when I curse myself for doing this to myself. But it also teaches you, patience, endurance, pushing your limits. Once you are back, you are in pain, you can probably feel every body part of yours screaming at you for waking them up. But that’s the beauty isn’t it? You are made aware of what your body can take. Hiking in all possible ways is a Life Coach.

G for God

God – a very common topic, I am sure. But the feelings for God. Is that common too?

I think my relationship with God, is a very private one. We might pray in front of others, might pretend not to believe in God, might pretend to have faith in God, depending on how our surroundings are. But what we really feel about God, is something we cannot express in front of others.

Are we scared of God? Or do we think of God as our friend? Do we believe, God will punish the evil? Is there an evil? Do the evil have their own God?

As children, we are always taught, be good, else God will punish you. May be God does punish you. But when is something we are not aware? I have seen people, who have not been very nice at one point of time, and felt, God are you going to punish them or not? Years later, I see them in a not so happy state. Is it their punishment? I don’t know. I probably don’t care anymore.

I know of people, who are scared of certain Gods, but are on friends with some Gods. And we also have our favorite Gods.

Well, I am not disclosing what kind of relation I have with God. Not totally. I sometimes feel its faith. There are days when I feel, God doesn’t exist, and maybe I am an atheist. There are other days when I have 100% faith in God. There have been days when I have had a conversation with God as if talking to a friend.

So what is God to me? I don’t know yet. I don’t plan on finding out either. May be God is my best friend. Maybe when I am really in need, God will do some God deed. We are also taught isn’t it. God helps them who help themselves.

F for Father

I was thinking what could I write for F. First I thought friends, then I thought flowers. Then there was a bulb on the head moment. Today is my dad's birthday so what better day than to write about it.

Father... As kids before we join school, we are taught or rather the names of our parents are drilled into us.. 
what is your name?
What is your mother's name?
What is your father's name?

It is said a daughter is her father's pet. I dont know about others but in my case, it's completely true. I am my father's princess. Ofcourse I am my mom's princess too..

Like all children I too have learnt a lot from my dad. But what I cherish is that in spite of me being stubborn and rebel I have never got punished by him.

I remember one incident when I had done some mischief and mom jus mentioned to dad he us never strict with me and dad, for fun just patted my head saying why did you do this. I remember crying for that small pat. From that day, dad did not even hit me or tried to hit me even for fun.

Another one which mom mentioned was that my dad was a chain smoker and he quit smoking only for my sake. One fine day he just stopped and never touched a cigarette again in life.

We have celebrated so many of our birthdays together. Dad, how much ever I wish you, it just doesn't seem enough. 

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

E for Emotion

Emotion.. This is something which everybody has. It is irrespective of your gender or age. There might be people who might not put it on display, but inside they definetly have some emotion playing. Nobody can deny this.

I have heard people say, X is such a emotion less person. How can that be true? He/she might not express it, but being devoid of it is not human nature...be it happy or sad, angry or content, frustrated or content... all these are different kind of emotions. Just because a person doesn't show you what you expect from them doesn't mean they don't have it.

The next time you judge a person of being emotionless...Think again...Is it really so?

D for Doll

Doll is what is one of my many names. But its not everybody who knows me calls me. Its not even few of them, its not my family, its not my set of friends. It is just one friend. She is not just a friend. She is my best friend. And I have written about her earlier too - here and here .

Infact, as I think about all my friends, I think now, she is the only one with whom I am closest to. We don’t stay in the same place, not even in the same country.. But I can share my feelings with her anytime. She is my 3.00 AM friend.. Well, the fact that we stay in different timezones help. Ofcourse there are times, when we wish we are together in the same place, so that we can meet often. But this distance, is not a barrier for us.

Going back to Doll. This started when we joined our first company together. We became close friends, and I don’t actually remember why she started call me Doll. I call her Flwr. Again, I don’t know the reason. Its been more than 12 years of our friendship. We have been thru ups and downs. We have been thru our cold wars. We have been thru the phase were we have told each other, that we think the other person doesn’t care for us. After all this, now we are at a stage, where we are totally comfortable with each other.

When I tell her something which is upsetting me, I don’t have to think twice. I know she will not judge me. She knows I will not judge her. There are times, when I have had some feelings, or there have been situations where I am angry at someone, and I would have reacted in not a good way. I can share that with her, without worrying about what she will think of me. I know that she knows what kind of a person I am. And, when I say this, I think I am saying it for the both of us. We are there for each other. We don’t judge each other. That doesn’t mean we don’t tell the other person, what they did might not be right. We listen to each other. We comfort each other. We don’t really have to thank each other for being present in our lives. I am so glad we got to meet each other, while she was here.. and spent an entire day.

Oh, and inspite of all these years, and all the memories and we being grown up and mature and all that.. She still calls me Doll and I love it. She is my Flwr. And in all possibility, you are the only one reading this too J

C for Creative

I was talking to a friend’s kid recently, and asked her if she likes stories. Then I asked her,  if she can tell a story. I was hoping for a crazy, out of the world, impossible things in the story. My brother used to tell me such stories. He used to start off with – Raja and Rani were travelling in a bus. The conductor got a dog in the bus etc etc. They were totally irrelevant and made no sense, but they were so imaginative and entertaining. But what I heard was this – “Once upon a time, there was a thirsty crow.” I thought its fine, now the crow will do something. After that I saw her turning towards her mother and saying “Mamma, what is it after this. I forgot the line”.

Another incident, rather an advertisement I saw on TV. A kid writes an amazing essay on his drive with his dad, and the principal complains to the dad that his son is writing all impossible things. Is this what the schools these days want from children. Shouldn’t they be happy true or not true, the children are trying to be creative, are trying to imagine things?

As a kid, I have always loved stories. It takes you to the land of imagination and your brain runs wild. I don’t remember how it was when were kids, when we had to tell stories in school. But we had one teacher who would tell us stories, and they would be so interesting, and unique. I am sure our teacher just let her creative juices flow and let the imagination set in and just go on with those stories. Probably all these things dint help us in our academics directly. But yes, in life it surely helped. It made us believe, there are somethings which can be beyond our imagination. It made us appreciate fantasy land.

As you grow up, like memories and stories, you accumulate a lot of materialistic stuff. Sometimes you don’t want to throw it. Bang!!! There is an idea in your head. You don’t want to go by the book. You want to try something different. Just like the person in your story, who had something extraordinary. You want to be that unique person. But how will you be unique, if you do something in the same way its always be done… That’s when you let the CREATIVE juices flow!!!

 

B for Boating

Boating – I had this obsession as a kid to do pedal boating. I always wanted to do it. As part of holidays, we went to Ooty and in the lake, we decided to do boating. It was the first time I realized, how difficult it was to pedal the boat. To add to it, I was scared of water, so on one side I was thinking what if I fall in water, on the other it was so tiring to pedal, how was I supposed to enjoy the cool weather and look at the mist forming in the nearby mountain and all that. All that was running in my mind was, when will this get over?

I blame it on the hindi movies. They show boating as such a romantic thing to do, and we young teenage kids just fell for it.

Years later, when me and G had not yet started dating, had gone to a theme park, along with other friends, and we were in a pedal boat again. We were too near the edge of the lake and the boat got stuck with the roots, and we used all our energy in getting the boat to the centre and then back to the starting point. If at all G had any plans of proposing to me on the boat, it surely dint happen.

After that, everytime we went to a place which had this small pond, and was called a lake, and had boating, I would avoid it all together. I never understood, why people would stand in the long queues just to go thru that ordeal.

Last Christmas, we were in Kodaikanal, with friends and our friend’s kid wanted to do boating. Usually when we go with friends with kids, and they want to do boating, they go for that activity and we go do something else in the meanwhile. But this time, for some reason, we ended up going with them. And howmuch ever I tried to avoid, there was no option but to go. I put in one condition. I will not pedal. Everyone agreed, since they knew I hated pedaling. With that life jacket the 4 of us sat in the boat. After that all I remember was hoping that we don’t fall in water, and that we get out safe. After about 20 mins, G and friend were tired of pedaling, and the only person who seemed to be enjoying was the kid. But all the elders had it enough, me with the boat itself and G and friend with the pedaling. So we got off from the boat, and I was one happy person.

I enjoy going boating though, row boat, speed boat, motar boat, cruise ship, ferry. Its just that pedaling part which I don’t like, and I feel its very cramped, and I feel stuffed, even if I am not the person pedaling. I don’t hate pedaling even, since I love cycling. So I don’t know what is it that is the problem. I think it’s the combination which I hate.. Boat +Pedal - Boadel 

A for Age

One lazy afternoon, G and I were at a restaurant. While we were busy eating and drinking, and trying to order the next thing I looked at an old couple who were getting down the stairs. They were not very old, but definitely in their late 50s. I was waiting for their family also, to walk down the stairs. But nobody came. It was just the 2 of them holding hands, walking down. It was such a good feeling to see them.

In our country, we always see old couples either with their children and their grand-children. It is the mindset we have. Our life is not ours anymore. It belongs to our children when they are young. As they grow older, every little moment of the life is spent on either doing chores for them or thinking about them. And as they grow old enough to have kids, start thinking about grand-children and so on. So when do they live their life? When do they think about their passion, their hobbies, their soul mates?

Ofcourse I am generalizing here. Inspite of doing everything for their kids and grand-kids, they might still take out time for themselves, for what they want to do, whatever their passions are. They might be content with their life. They might be more than happy with whatever they have. As long as they have passion for something in life. I feel they are alive.

I have seen our grandmothers still active with household chores, if not what they used to do in their younger days, they do try to keep themselves busy. My 80 year old granny still gets excited, when I tell her I cooked something new and asks for a recipe. When she sees something new art work on TV, she tells me how interesting that was. She might not cook or make those interesting things anymore, but her interest in that topic and the spark in the eyes is amazing.

When I went for sky-diving, in my head I was still contemplating what I was doing, and then I saw this 80 year old lady, she wanted to sky dive and that was her birthday gift from her kids. I felt this is what is life.

When we grow older, this what I would expect our life to be. If not this adventurous, atleast to be happy with each other. We should be able to go around places together, just the 2 of us. And yeah!!! If we both get an opportunity to sky dive and we are in a healthy position to do that… Then why not!!!

This is my belief, As far as you have some passion in life, you are alive, no matter what your age is. Once your passion to live life is dead, you are dead, no matter if you are 8 year old or 80 years old.

A-Z Blogging challenge

I just happened to come across the A-Z Blogging Challenge. I have no clue about the rules, themes or anything. But I am just planning to take the plunge. This would just help in getting out of the shell, and do some writing.

So let the challenge begin tomorrow....

A for .....
 

Appa Office Amma Home

“Amma… What’s the cow doing there”, 3 year old Anagha asked her mom.

“That’s not a cow baby. It’s a bull”was the mother’s reply. Seeing a confused expression, she simplified it for Anagha. “It’s the father cow” was the next reply.

“What is it doing here” She asked.

Mom said “It has come to the farm to do some work. Just like how Appa goes to office”

“Where is mummy Cow Amma?” was her next question.

“Mummy cow is with paapa cow. Just like how I and you are” was the reply.

I was shocked to listen to this explanation from a family member. I am not a hard core male hating feminist. I am not a person fighting for gender quality too, as I know there are certain things which only one of the genders can do. Ofcourse, in situations where both are equally responsible, I am all in for equality.

However what surprised me here was, the mother in this situation is a working woman, may not be in the grilling IT scenario, but yes working nevertheless

So is this what shocks me. Is this what the kid will be taught. Its father’s job to provide and mother’s job to look after home and kids. Also, in the same family, the father doesn’t take care of the kid single handedly. He cannot it seems. It just baffles me. So why on earth did you even want the kid. So it’s completely the mother’s responsibility to take care of all the needs of the kids, and the father is just the financial support.

Seriously, such behavior I can find them less shocking if seen in a set up where, people don’t have much awareness. I wouldn’t even bring education here. As the people involved here are very much educated. You can’t even talk about seeing the same in their families, hence continuing, as I know both the sides the fathers help the mothers in household chores and the kid upbringing, and yes both the sides the mothers were working too.

I definetly don’t pity the girl in this scenario, as I don’t think she is being treated in a bad way. If it’s happening, then it’s because she has let it happen. But yes, I feel pity for the kid, for the kind of example the parents are setting up for her. And regarding the guy, even though I am quite courteous, when they visit home and all that. I know, the respect I had for him ealier is not there anymore.

All said and done, I don’t know how they are at home. Whether he does any work at home to help his wife or not. And even if I happen to know, I wouldn’t be in a position to tell them anything, since we would like to follow the policy of no interference. We will not interfere in other people’s life and vice versa. Nobody is allowed to interfere in our life.

Parents are the guiding points for kids. Not just what you preach. What matters is what you practice. So teach them the values in a way, they can follow. They will decide later in life whether they are right or wrong.

Kai-tuthu

Summer holidays meant spending 2 weeks with Paati, mamas, younger cousins. And in those times lunch and dinner times would be awesome, coz all of us(cousins) would sit in a semicircle, with our Paati in the center. She would have a huge bowl of sambar rice, and would make almost perfect balls and place it in our hands. We would, cup our palms and ensure that as soon as Paati places the mixture, we pop it into our mouth. After the sambar rice, we would continue with curd rice and end up eating more than how much we would have eaten, if we were just given food in our plate. That was our favorite Kai-tuthu. She would ensure that all of us have had our full and only then go to eat her lunch.

Couple of days before my wedding, we had mehendi ceremony at home, and most of my cousins were to stay in our house that night. We again had the Kai-tuthu. Ofcourse, my hands were not free, and I was directly fed by my Paati. But all my cousins who were no longer kids, enjoyed this process. Even after my wedding, we have had this kai-tuthu a few times.

It’s been a long time, since we have had this. Next time I meet Paati, I might again request for Kai-tuthu from her. She would more than happy to do this. I am sure about that!!!

They say parents love their kids unconditionally. I think grandparents also love their grand kids unconditionally. Probably a little more than their own kids.. Like they say interest is more interesting than the principle J

Bike ride

“I want to take you on a bike ride” G would always say.

I was nervous. I was scared. It’s not that I had not gone on bike rides. It’s not that I had not gone on bike rides with my friends. It was not even that I had not gone on a bike ride with G. But when I had earlier gone with him, he was just a friend.

But now, things had changed. We were together. And he wasn’t talking about just a ride inside the city. It was supposed to be a ride from Mysore – Bangalore. I could never say yes to that. One day with some courage, I agreed to go to Srirangapatnam. (which is hardly 15 mins from Mysore). But I did go.

After our Wedding, I have been to many bike rides with him. A couple of them in US. A few in India, our longest being Blr-Madurai-Kanyakumari and back.

Now we have a new bike, Ninja 650 R. It’s a little difficult for me to sit at the back for long rides, so we had to get a a luggage box, and get it fixed, so that it could act as my backrest. G really wanted all this so that he could take me for a long ride. All this wasn’t coming cheap. It did cost us quite a few thousands, to get that fixed. We also bought a new helmet for me. We came to office together for a week. We go around in the city.

But somehow, we have not been able to go out of Bangalore. He has gone on few solo trips. But we have not gone together… I am waiting for atleast a one day trip… Come on… Buying all that jazz, and No Paisa Vasool… Just not happening!!!.. Take me for that ride dude!!!