30.10.10

after an years stay in Chennai...

I now understand that "a" attached to any English word qualifies for a question mark... and the letter "h" appearing in most Tamil names is silent...

I have learnt that too many women wearing yellow on Fridays is not a mere coincidence but a superstition.. and that women in cargos with strings of jasmine tucked into their hair is not odd fusion but an attempt at preserving age-old-customs....

I have learnt to accept and enjoy rains in November...

I have started to follow conversations in Tamil which include few English words...

I know the roads to and from the Silk stores in Thyagaraya Nagar (T.Nagar) and with confidence can haggle with the auto-drivers the rates... I can even give them directions when needed just to make sure that they know I am not a stranger to Chennai.

And these days I even appreciate the Tamil breakfasts of idli, dosa, pongal with sambhar and coconut-chutney and sometimes miss the coconut and spices when on holiday..... 

Yet in spite of my one years experience here, I haven't managed to master the proportions for a good cup of Tamil coffee. the not-so-sweet-not-so-bitter perfect brown coffee that they serve in the Tamil-households or cater at Hot-chips. So on days like this when its incessantly raining outside, I feel a little elated when i get my  sugar-milk-decoction proportions right !

[sip, sip...] hmm...thats what you call perfection ! a perfect start to the weekend....

I hope all of you also had a good start. Have a perfect weekend !



28.10.10

ont une belle journée

photographs and stories of my nephew and nieces always make my day....
and so do photographs like this......

Have a lovely day !

[i had saved this photograph from a post at A CUP OF JO.... stumbled upon it yesterday while shuffling  the old folders.]

27.10.10

He who binds to himself a joy
Doth the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity's sunrise.

-William Blake


Love Birds !


Perched on their little glass bowl, don't these love birds look gorgeous !
My ex-room-mate gifted them to me. Thanks a lot Moitri. These are absolutely adorable!

17.10.10

Subho Bijaya !!

Hope you all had a wonderful time with family and friends during the four days of Durga Puja. Wish you all Subho Bijaya ! I just got back to Chennai and here are some photographs of Sindoor Khela and Durga Bisharjan....

After four days of puja festivities he idol of Ma Durga along with her two daughters Laskshmi and Saraswati and her two sons Ganesha and Kartika were immersed on Dashami with cries of "Asche bochor aabar hobe" and "Durga Mai ki jai" resounding everywhere.... and then like every year the Bijaya Dashami celebrations followed....


12.10.10

Puja Greetings to all ....


just two more days to go before the dhakis start drumming their dhaks, before the sound of conches fill the air...           before  young girls and ladies wearing crisp new sarees crowd every inch of Kolkata... 
just a day to go before i land in Kolkata and immerse myself completely in the festivities of Durga puja ..  
.... my shopping is done. my bags are packed.  and i am all set to leave. On the pretext of my present work load I had earlier decided to stay back in Chennai. but festivals without family do not feel like festivals at all. so i made my tickets for home last week and i am leaving tomorrow... in less than 28 hours from now i'll be home... sitting in our drawing room couch sipping chai with ma as she shows me her puja shopping and i show her mine.... :)  I am 32, but even today puja vacations excite me as much as they used to when I was a little girl ..... I guess certain emotions never change or erode with time... they remain the same and bring back the good memories over and over again......

Hope you all have a wonderful time with family, friends and all your loved ones.... 
eat lots, drink healthy and make merry... catch you all after the pujas..... 

take care,
love, T



[the photograph was taken by Priyotosh at one of the puja pandals in Allahabad in 2008. ]

9.10.10

precious moments.....

Our little Shruti is now growing up. she has lots to show and lots to say... her mother makes me hear her over the phone and tells me that these days she want to imitate anything new that she notices... its been only two months since i saw her last... but it seems that she is growing everyday....

here are some photographs of Shruti and mom taken by my brother-in-law while they had a family picnic on the terrace of their house in Bangalore...

little Shruti has a fascination for bindis..... she loves to wear the whole leaf at one go...
"there is always so much to tell ma..."
"love these terrace picnics with ma feeding and bapa taking photographs... they are always so much fun..."
"as me and ma discover things anew....."

7.10.10

Breach of privacy....

the thing is today.. in fact  a few seconds back i sent a mail from my gmail account. i had to mail someone some documents and so i wrote...

                               Dear Mr. X,

                                          Please find attached copies of ........

                             Thanks,
                             T

...and as is very characteristic of me (not that i am very proud of it.. and i am definitely trying to be more careful with things like this..) i forgot to attach the files... so a message popped up on my screen and asked if i had forgotten to attach the files that i mentioned in my mail.... ?? i do not know gmail accounts work... but since i regard my emails like letters and @....com as a new-age version of the good old postal services... this message that popped up seemed like a intrusion into my privacy.. wouldn't it be weird if someday the postman asks, " Ma'm, I just went through the letter i was suppose to deliver and realised that you haven't enclosed the files that you have mentioned you would enclose....."

4.10.10

The man within.. the man without......

is it remorse or my imagination of it....
whose reflection I often see in his eyes... 
but i have never felt upto it to approach him and ask him how he is today.... 
if he needs that extra shirt that i haven't worn since and have no use of...
the one i could gladly part with... but haven't parted with till now..

I wonder what his friends call him...
I wonder if he has any friends at all... 
may be he once had many.... many many years back...
when his visage was a little more orderly, a little more friendly perhaps..
but  i doubt if any of them are still in touch ..... 
he looks so utterly forlorn...


i pity him at times, his friendlessness... and wonder if he pities himself too... 
but i have never seen him cry... 
i have only seen his remorse eyes become stone-still at times...
he never begs... never asks for the essentials..
till yesterday he was in a loincloth but did not seem to bother much... 
today he is barely clad but better than yesterday... 
perhaps someone took pity and forwent that extra pair of pants that he had....

he wanders in the streets by the day
and sleeps on the cemented brick-lined path at night.....
i have noticed him thus and imagined my  story of him...

sometimes i wish to talk... 
or greet him the way i greet all others at work...
just look his way and share a nod perhaps...
but then i don't... 
i excuse myself saying.... he is better off his way..
why deter his acceptance of his life by a few frivolous acts...
but deep within i realise that my reasons are only an excuse....
an excuse to shelter the inhibitions that have been groomed into my being 
i stare at him thus... just like i did yesterday
imagining the infinite possibilities that lay hidden behind that dishevelled outer frame.

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